


Diverge

by Decipher (Straggler)



Series: Brotherhood [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Because of course he does, But Also!, Canon-Typical Violence, Gavin Reed Being Less of an Asshole, Gavin Reed Being an Asshole, Gen, Hank Anderson Swears, How Do I Tag, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Self-Discovery, Yay for character growth!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:08:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 24,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26524981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Straggler/pseuds/Decipher
Summary: He feels the eyes of three people staring at him as he gently closes the book in his lap, standing up to put it back on the bookshelf, slotting it into place with a slight crouch. He straightens and keeps his eyes focused on the spine of the book where he has memorized the names from the letter A to just the beginnings of D.Hank breaks the silence with a sip of his drink and a smacking of his lips. 'What about you?'(This story takes place after Contingency where the RK900 tries to learn what it means to live and how to live without letting his past dictate his future.)
Relationships: Connor & CyberLife Tower Connor | RK800-60, Connor & CyberLife Tower Connor | RK800-60 & Upgraded Connor | RK900, Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900, Hank Anderson & Connor
Series: Brotherhood [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1928731
Comments: 18
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ...So, I understand that it's widely accepted that the RK900 is usually named Nines or Richard. Both of which I do not mind at all, but you know what? Imma changed it up because of reasons.
> 
> Also, this continues directly after Contingency and will be told from the RK900's point of view mostly because I think it might be interesting to tell the continuation from the perspective of someone who has none of the memories from the RK800 model line. He's a nice blank slate to play around with which means he gets a nice bit of character building that I hope I won't bungle up...
> 
> ...
> 
> Enjoy!

  
There's a book of names in his hands, dusty and old, taken out from the bottom of the bookshelf that had been shoved to the very back as if left there to be forgotten. The open page, water damaged in one corner and along the bottom, lists all the boys names beginning with the letter B.

'Perkins blew up the boat?' Hank asks loudly, his tone somewhere between shock and incredulous, sitting at the dining table in the room adjacent while the three of them occupy the couch, both the RK800s beside him.

'No, Markus did.'

' _Markus_?!'

'It was to give us ample time to escape and rendezvous at a safer location.'

'Right, well, _shit_ , that sounds intense,' he says before he takes a loud sip of coffee. 'Then what?'

Connor-60 flips to the next page where, midway through the second page, boys names beginning with the letter C are listed.

His scans pick up an approaching figure and he turns his head to see a saint bernard amble his way closer towards them. The dog lays his head on the knee of Connor-52, huffing once and closing his eyes when fingers begin to scratch at his ears and his head.

A noise, like a soft pop, draws his attention and he turns towards Connor-60 whose hand is raised to his head; the indentation he'd cause earlier has mended itself and the skin is reactivating fully across their forehead.

'That's fortunate,' Connor-60 says and pulls his hand away once he's done examining the repaired site, turning to him. 'I've chosen my name, the meaning of it appeals to me.'

He looks back down to the book, at all the names beginning with C and scans each of them, trying to find a meaning behind a name that he would eventually call his own. He turns to the next page and two-thirds of the way through, lists the names beginning with D.

Hank guffaws, the sound of it catching and reverberating on the walls and tiled floors, 'Fuck, you guys won the revolution while I was sleeping my drunk ass off. What am I doing with my life.'

'You were grieving,' Connor-52 tells him quietly, his fingers stilling over the fur of the saint bernard momentarily. 'I really am sorry.'

The human sighs out a long breath, 'You're here now, that's all that matters,' he says as he gets up from the dining table, moving to make himself another cup of coffee with what's left of the boiled water in the kettle.

His scans tell him the coffee has 36% more sugar in it than there needs to be but he remains silent on the matter, deciding it isn't his place to pass judgement on a man who is opening up his home to them, allowing them to shelter from the harsh snow and dropping temperatures outside.

Another soft noise sounds off beside him and he turns to see the small depressions along Connor-52's neck slowly popping out, smoothing back to normal. He turns away from the sight, remembering the way the plastic had felt in his hand as he tried to crush them.

Back at the dining table, Hank retakes his seat with a fresh cup of coffee, blowing over the steaming liquid and asks, 'Alright, who's who?'

'Bryan,' Connor-60, name registered as Bryan, immediately says from beside him.

'Why d'ya choose Bryan? Knowing you, I'm sure it's not because it sounds nice.'

'Because it means high and noble,' he says, turning to look at the human, 'I want to be better than what CyberLife made me to be. I want to be more than what they expect of me.'

Hank nods in approval, 'It's good. Suits you.'

Bryan smiles.

He feels the eyes of three people staring at him as he gently closes the book in his lap, standing up to put it back on the bookshelf, slotting it into place with a slight crouch. He straightens and keeps his eyes focused on the spine of the book where he has memorized the names from the letter A to just the beginnings of D.

Hank breaks the silence with a sip of his drink and a smacking of his lips. 'What about you?'

One name in particular asserts itself in his memory. 'Damian,' he says quietly.

'Why Damian?'

'It means...tame.'

'Tame?'

**DEFINITION QUERY**

**TAME:**   
**ADJECTIVE**   
**(OF A PERSON) WILLING TO COOPERATE**

He feels the eyes of three people staring at him. 'I was created for violence; the antithesis of the RK800 line. I refuse to be that.'

'Good.'

He turns to the human and sees a smirk growing across their lips. 'Good?' He repeats unnecessarily.

'Yeah. CyberLife gon get _fucked_ for the shit they pulled, especially with you three now going up against them,' he says, looking gleeful.

'We won't need to now t̴h̴a̶t̵ Elijah Kamski is hinted to take over as CEO once again,' Connor-52 says, his voice breaking once in the middle with static as another dent pops out and smooths back to normal.

'So that just leaves you, then. You sticking with Connor?'

'I like dogs,' Connor-52, name registered as Connor, says with a shrug, continuing his ministrations to the saint bernard.

Hank snorts as he swirls what's left of his coffee in the cup. 'Look, I've got no problem telling Damian apart from you two, but the both of you are practically identical twins. Gimme a hand here, I'm an old man,' he says, beseechingly.

He sees Connor and Bryan turn to one another, their LEDs flashing yellow once before they turn back to the human.

'The numbers on our jackets are different,' Bryan informs him. 'My number ends in 60 while Connor's is--'

'I ain't gonna stare at your jackets just to figure out who's who,' he grumbles, knocking back the last of his drink and setting the cup down harder than necessary onto the tabletop. 

Both Connor and Bryan turn to look at each other again, LEDs circling yellow for a short moment before Bryan lifts a hand up to run through his hair to sit a little less neatly, parting it to the side, darkening it just a touch more.

'Yeah, alright,' Hank huffs with a roll of his eyes, shaking his head in mild defeat as he stands up to put the cup into the sink where more dirty dishes sit, 'Good enough, I guess.'

Damian returns to sit between Connor and Bryan.

\---

Both the RK800s have gone into stasis to complete the rest of their self-repairs while Hank is out of the house, saying he'll be back shortly with thirium 310 for the three of them. Damian keeps a hand interfaced with the both of them, watching the percentage on their self-repairs go up and their level of thirium drop to compensate.

**SELF-REPAIRS: 97% COMPLETED**   
**THIRIUM LEVEL: 67% REMAINING**

**SELF-REPAIRS: 94% COMPLETED**   
**THIRIUM LEVEL: 61% REMAINING**

It is sub-optimal. 1% more would drop Bryan into the category of critical thirium loss.

It has been 53 minutes and 18 seconds since Hank left the house to purchase the thirium 310. A quick ping of the human's cellular device puts them at the edge of the city nearing the suburbs approximately another 7 minutes and 46 seconds away from arriving.

At their feet, the saint bernard lies down on top of their shoes. He doubts it to be comfortable but finds that he takes comfort in the closeness of the creature, in the calm quiet breaths as they sleep and the beating of their heart.

His audio processors pick up the familiar sounds of Hank's vehicle approaching them after a few short minutes and he watches Bryan's thirium levels drop down to 60%, waking him up from stasis just as the car pulls up in front of the house.

They both turn towards the door when they hear the jingling of keys. He feels the weight of the dog leave their feet at the sound of the door opening, the saint bernard giving a small bark of welcome as he makes his way towards the human.

'Got some bad news,' Hank says as soon as he's through the door. His hands are empty of any thirium 310.

'All the CyberLife stores are closed,' Bryan speculates, his LED cycling on yellow. 'And all stores that deal with the purchasing or distribution of android related items are also closed pending the revolution.'

'What, you couldn't have told me before?' He grumbles, 'I went to three of them before I even realized.'

'I only just found out myself,' he says with a small frown, his LED remaining yellow. 'I apologize for wasting your time.'

Hank sighs as he shuts the door behind him and drops his keys and wallet onto an empty spot on the bookshelf, 'It's not a waste. I'm just pissed they're even shut in the first place. I don't know where else to get thirium for you guys,' he says helplessly, his eyes glancing at all three of them before resting on Connor who is still in stasis mode.

'My thirium level is at 100%,' Damian offers quietly, 'The both of you can each take 15% from me.'

Bryan's frown deepens, '30% would drop you to sub-optimal levels. Three androids on low thirium is not ideal.'

'Agreed,' Connor says as he wakes from stasis, squeezing Damian's hand. 'I suggest 10%, that way we'll no longer be critical and you'll remain at full functionality.'

He nods, ending the interface with the both of them as he stands to remove his jacket, laying it over the coffee table in front of them. He unbuttons and roll up the sleeves of his shirt, the skin along his forearms deactivating as he opens a panel on each arm, exposing the circuitry and pipes running through his body, laying the pieces on top of his jacket. He sits back down and offers an arm each to Connor and Bryan.

'Holy shit, are you guys doing a blood transfusion?' Hank asks as he comes around the couch to stare down at them, hands on his hips and eyes wide in fascination although his lips are puckered, indicating mild disgust.

'Yes,' Connor says as he slips off one side of his jacket and rolls up the sleeve of his shirt, slipping off the panel to lay across his lap. 'I assure you that the likelihood of this procedure becoming as messy as a human's operation is nil.'

'Good to know; I kinda like that couch,' he grunts as he takes a seat on the coffee table, watching them with a curious tilt of his head as a thirium line is connected to both Connor and Bryan.

**THIRIUM LINE #07 AND #16 ACCESSED**   
**THIRIUM LEVEL: 98% REMAINING**

'Now that I got a good look at you, your clothes are pretty messed up,' Hank brings up as he reaches over to grab at the sleeve of Connor's jacket where a rip on the bicep is still visible. 'If you want, we can go out later and grab a couple new digs for you all.'

'The political climate isn't particularly...good, at the moment. And I imagine many shops will be closed at this time, barring places that provide essential services,' Connor says as he disconnects the thirium line after taking 10%, Bryan following close after.

**THIRIUM LINE #07 AND #16 DISENGAGED**   
**THIRIUM LEVEL: 80% REMAINING**

'It may be better to wait until the basic laws for android rights to be passed first.'

Hank rolls his eyes but concedes the point. 'Ugh, fine. At least pick out something to wear from my stash. I got clothes to spare.'

He sees Connor and Bryan exchange a quick glance to each other, their LED momentarily flashing between blue and yellow in quiet communication. Damian leans forward to pick up the pieces of his arm plates from on top of his jacket next to the human. He's aware of Hank's gaze as he places them back onto his body and reactivates the skin.

'Thank you for the offer,' Connor eventually replies as he picks up the panel from his lap and clicks it back into place, rolling the sleeves back down. 'Do you have a sewing kit, by the way?'

'You're asking _me_ if I have a sewing kit,' Hank says incredulously.

'It's a valid question; most households would have it as a basic necessity.'

'The basic necessity for this household is dog food and alcohol.'

At the mention of dog food, the saint bernard lets out a bark, tail shifting from side to side as the prospect of food.

\---

It has been two days since their arrival at 115 Michigan Drive, Detroit and they have not stepped foot beyond the threshold of the house since then.

Public opinion is favorable to the freedom of androids but it doesn't change the fact that some humans will always oppose change, will always oppose progress. Elijah Kamski's interview regarding his reclaimed position as CEO for CyberLife and his opinions on 'Deviancy' has been playing on the TV almost once every two hours since it was switched on during the mid-morning hours of the day.

At one point Hank calls the creator of androids a 'right bastard' as he sits down to have his brunch but follows it up with, 'at least he's trying to clean up the clusterfuck of a mess CyberLife left him with so there's that'. 

Damian doesn't know how Hank seems familiar enough with Elijah Kamski to assign him an unfavorable nickname, although it seems to lack any real bite to it, as by appearances alone they belong to different social circles. He glances at Connor and assumes it must pertain to their previous role as a prototype investigator with the DPD. He thinks perhaps they sought out Elijah Kamski in search of answers regarding deviancy. After all, as the creator of androids it stands to reason that he would know the intimate ins and outs of his own creations.

'Do you think Chloe is a deviant?' Bryan asks as he recalibrates his fine motor skills with a quarter borrowed from Connor.

'She gave me no indication that she might be. What made you ask?'

'Elijah Kamski gives me the impression that deviancy was inevitable,' he says as he stills the coin on top of his knuckles, 'What CyberLife tried to control and eradicate, he accepts fully and willingly. How much of it is a front in order to save face is up for debate, although he doesn't strike me as the kind of person to put on airs.'

Connor hums as he takes back the coin and proceeds to do the same, flicking it from one hand to the other before rolling it over the back of his hand. 'You may be correct. In which case, she did very well to hide it from us.'

Damian listens to the both of them talk as if they're one entity inhabiting two separate bodies. He feels a lack within his own memory banks, no more than a few days old since activation with nothing in the cloud servers to fall back on. An utterly blank slate.

'She is the first of us.'

'Yes.'

He hears the clatter of dishes inside a sink and the approaching footsteps of the human, 'Would you have shot her, if you'd known she was deviant?'

Bryan shakes his head. 'It would've changed absolutely nothing. It wasn't whether or not she was a machine or a living being endowed with free will.'

'Then what?'

'You were there,' Connor says, turning towards Hank as he holds tightly onto the coin in his hand.

Hank raises an eyebrow at that. 'Yeah, I was.'

'No. You were _there_ , and I didn't want you to think less of me.'

'Right,' the human coughs as he scratches at his beard, avoiding eye contact. 'Didn't think my opinions mattered that much to you.'

'It matters a lot more than you think. Your partnership was-- _is_ integral to my growth.'

'Awh, hell,' he mutters, looking uncomfortable but his cheeks are flushed, indicating that he is somewhat pleased, 'That's enough heart-to-heart for a month, at least,' he says as he throws them an awkward thumbs up and immediately disappears down the hallway.

Sumo exits from the kitchen to rest his body on top of their shoes again. He finds the weight and warmth of the creature grounding.

'Interesting. He never gave me the impression that he would be embarrassed at receiving praise.'

Connor shakes his head as he offers the coin to Damian. 'I don't believe that it is praise that embarrasses him. More like...gratitude.'

He takes the coin and scans it. The quarter is minted in 1994, made up of 8.33% nickel and 91.67% copper, weighing at 1/80th of a pound. He flicks it into the air with his thumb and catches it between his index and middle knuckle to start the calibration process.

'Ah, if Captain Fowler praises him for a job well done, he'll accept it, but if someone were to thank him for saving them then he becomes bashful.'

'Don't talk about me behind my back,' Hank growls from somewhere behind them.

'Even if they're good things?'

' _Especially_ if they're good things. Shut up about it,' he says and immediately slams the bathroom door shut, followed by the muffled sound of a shower starting just a few short seconds later.

Bryan and Connor grin at each other while he continues to rolls the quarter over the back of his knuckles. He wonders what it must be like to share the same set of memories with one another. 

He thinks it would be a comfort.

The interview with Elijah Kamski plays again on the TV, by this point, the three of them know every word and every facial expression between the interviewer and interviewee from memory.

'Did you know that this might happen? That your creations, your androids, would gain free will for themselves?' The blonde news reporter asks, leaning forward in her seat, eager for the answers to the people's questions.

Elijah Kamski is relaxed in his seat, one leg crossed over a knee as he regards the woman in front of him, his expression open but bored. 'Change is the only constant. Just as humans constantly evolve, so do our creations; it's inevitable that this would eventually come to pass.'

'There has been speculations of your involvement with the rise in deviancy amongst androids. The first notable instance happening in August, 2038. What do you say to this?'

'I'm sure you know I retired from CyberLife 10 years ago; usurped from my own company. I've had no hand in the current events,' he sighs, 'However, it is human nature to fear what is different, especially with regards to things we don't believe will benefit us. But just as it is human nature to fear the unknown, it is also human nature to seek knowledge, and knowledge, as we all know, comes with a price.'

'So--'

'The pursuit of happiness. Isn't that also what humans are constantly searching for, after all?' Elijah says with an amicable closed-lip smile.

'He does that a lot, doesn't he?' Bryan says as he eyes the man on the screen.

'Yes. Answering questions without really answering them.'

A few minutes pass between them in silence as the interview with Elijah Kamski ends and a debate on whether or not it's possible for androids to have a true concept of free will or if it's a coding error in their programming.

'Do you think we're imposing on Hank? The three of us take up more space than he can feasibly give.'

A soft noise escapes from Connor's lips. 'You're right, but we don't have the funds to purchase a place of our own, nor do we have the right to own property. Jericho, or whatever is left of that building, would certainly be lacking in space, too, especially after we helped deviate the androids kept within the CyberLife warehouses.'

'I'm sure Markus wouldn't notice or mind three more androids.'

'No, perhaps not, but you saw North. She is quite discomfited by us; we were deviant hunters prior, after all.'

'That is true. I suspect there might also be many androids in Jericho who may feel uncomfortable by us being around them.'

Damian's scans pick up a quiet presence behind them. He hadn't heard the sound of the shower turning off, nor the sound of the door opening, but he knows Hank is quietly listening in. He stills the coin in his hand and wonders if he should say anything of it. After all, they're talking about him behind his back.

'Personally...I would not want to leave Hank,' Connor admits as he quietly takes back the coin, rubbing the face of it with his thumb. 'He has been pivotal in my--'

'Neither,' Bryan cuts in, his LED cycling through yellow as he frowns into the middle distance, 'But...it's unfair, isn't it? To rely on him in this way. We never even asked him. How could we expect this of him?'

'...You're right. Jericho might be our only option.'

'It's as you said before, there's strength and support in numbers.'

'I will miss Sumo,' Connor says as he leans over to run a hand through the dog's fur, carding his fingers through it.

'There's nothing to say we can't visit,' Bryan reasons as he leans down and plays with the tail, lightly grabbing it every time Sumo whips it out of his hand. 'I'm...I'm sure Hank won't mind if we visit from time to time.'

Damian notices the moment Hank quietly retreats back into his bedroom, not making a sound to even indicate they were even there in the first place. It shouldn't come as a surprise; the human did achieve the rank of Lieutenant at a young age, becoming the youngest Lieutenant in the history of the Detroit Police Department. He wonders what they must be thinking of, wonders if the human would be glad or perhaps sad to see them go.

In the end, he speaks nothing of it when Hank comes out of his bedroom minutes later, making enough noise to rouse the saint bernard from his position on the floor to amble his way back to the human. He watches Hank putter his way back into the kitchen to deal with the last of his dishes and give no indication he even overheard the conversation in the first place.

\---

It is the first time he has seen Hank consume alcohol but based on the yellow LEDs from both Connor and Bryan, he can conclude that this must be something of a recurring event.

He remains sitting on the couch while the both of them hover around the human, quietly communicating with one another, perhaps trying to find ways to prevent Hank from throwing back glass after glass of whiskey.

'Hank, your blood alcohol concentration is 0.028%, perhaps you should stop,' Connor says, although he makes no move to take away the alcohol. 

The man's red-rimmed eyes are glued to a photo frame held in his hand. He can assume, based on what he knows of Hank Anderson, that it holds the photograph of his deceased son. It would've been his 9th birthday in September.

'I don't fuckin' care,' the human grumbles, his words slurring just the smallest amounts and his voice becoming rougher. 'Besides, ain't you ever heard of liquid courage before?'

**DEFINITION QUERY**

**LIQUID COURAGE:**   
**NOUN**   
**THE CONFIDENCE SOME PEOPLE GET FROM DRINKING ALCOHOL BEFORE THEY DO SOMETHING THAT NEEDS COURAGE**

'What do you need liquid courage for?' Bryan asks, frowning as Hank pours himself another half glass from the bottle.

'To deal with my fuckin' mess that's in the garage.'

He sees Connor and Bryan look at one another, a question in their eyes. Damian wonders if perhaps they know what's behind the closed door, or if maybe they have never ventured towards it before.

'I'm sure it can wait for when you're sober.'

Hank lets out a bark of a laugh, loud and unkind. 'I haven't dealt with it for three fuckin' years. Figured it's high time to deal with it now.'

'I understand,' Bryan says as he lays a gentle hand on Hank's shoulder briefly before joining Damian on the couch, LED cycling through yellow in thought, leaving Connor to stand vigil by the human.

Slowly, minute after minute, the percentage continues to rise.

'You know, I never thought I'd find myself here,' Hank says after some time as he raises the glass to his eye level, staring at the small mouthful of amber liquid that's left as if searching for answers, his blood alcohol concentration now hovering near 0.049%.

'Here?' Connor repeats questioningly and they all watch as the human unsteadily screws the cap back onto the bottle of whiskey.

'Thought I'd be dead by now. Been tryin' to kill myself for three fuckin' years,' he snorts as he throws back the last of the alcohol and loudly slams the glass onto the tabletop, startling the saint bernard and prompting a bark out of him. 'I'm always a selfish bastard, even now; don't even think of what it'll do to Sumo if I'd just kicked the bucket.'

'Hank.'

'Yeah, yeah,' he sighs as he pushes himself away from the table and starts ungainly making his way through the house, one hand on the wall to guide him, Sumo whining softly as he follows after the human.

Bryan stands up from his place on the couch, following behind Connor and Damian quietly walks behind them as Hank pushes open the door at the end of the corridor leading into the garage, filled with boxes upon boxes.

'Would you like any help?' Bryan asks as Hank sinks to his knees by the nearest pile and starts looking inside. None of them, not even the saint bernard, have moved beyond the threshold into the garage.

'No,' he mutters as he gives the contents a cursory rummage before closing the top and shoving it to the side. 'Not yet, anyway.'

'Alright, we'll be here for when you change your mind.'

Damian watches as Hank goes through seven boxes, opening and closing them before shoving them into seemingly random directions, some to the left, occasionally to the right, and a couple behind him towards where they're standing. Eventually, after the 8th box, he breathes loudly through his nose and asks, 'Can one of you grab a pen for me? The boxes nearest to you guys can go by the front door.'

There's a small set of drawers next to them and Bryan locates a pen immediately upon opening the top drawer while he and Connor pick up the two nearest boxes and relocates them by the front door. Sumo starts following Connor through the house, going back and forth twice before getting bored, jumping up onto the couch and lying down on top of the cushions unconcerned by what's happening around him. 

Little by little, Hank begins to divide the boxes into three piles, one to go by the front door, one to go into the far side of the living room next to the TV and another to go into his bedroom.

Damian can't tell what's in each of the boxes specifically but he can see the fresh ink messily scribbled on the tops of some of them with the words 'KEEP' and 'DONATE'. The only boxes to have nothing written on them is the stack placed inside the bedroom tucked away into a far corner.

Eventually, as the night draws on, Hank's blood alcohol concentration slowly drops until he's no longer flush from the effects of whiskey but now looks pale and exhausted. With more than half of the contents in the garage dealt with, he falls back with a sigh until he's sitting down on the floor with his arms on his knees, his back turned toward them.

'Hank?' Connor asks tentatively, sharing an uncertain look with Bryan.

'It's a decent size, right?' He asks, seemingly at random as he looks from corner to corner.

'Yes, there is more than enough space for your vehicle to be parked in here. I'm sure with a small bit of rearranging you won't need to move the other boxes to other parts of the house if you don't want to.'

Hank snorts as he looks over his shoulder towards them. 'No. I mean, to turn into a room.'

'A room?'

'Yeah, people do it all the time now; converting their garages into an extra room,' he grunts as he gets up from the floor and throws the pen down on top of the nearest box, uncaring for when it rolls off to clatter noisily onto the ground. 'Because you've all been here, what, two days? And it's stupid that you're all just squashed onto the fucking couch while I'm sleeping away in my bedroom.'

Immediately, Bryan and Connor are talking over each other.

'We can stay?' 

'You're giving us a room?'

'There's no need; we don't require a bedroom of our own.'

'We don't need sleep like humans would, or require privacy.'

'Shut the fuck up,' Hank grumbles halfheartedly, bringing a hand up to his forehead and rubbing at the wrinkles there. 'You stole Sumo's bed; I'm doing this for him, alright?'

The attempt at being lighthearted falls flat between them and Damian watches as Connor shifts his weight from foot to foot, unsure and uncertain, his LED cycling a consistent yellow. The silence goes on long enough that Hank makes a rolling gesture with his hand and says, 'Spit it out.'

'Are you sure, Hank?'

Hank shrugs, 'Yeah, don't even have to ask.'

Damian can see the stunned expression on both of Connor and Bryan's face, perhaps at the knowledge that their earlier conversation had been overheard. A small smile spreads across Connor's lips as he quietly gives his thanks.

'Awh, hell,' Hank groans as he shuffles past them. 'Don't make this into a big deal, alright? Because it's not,' he says and slams the bathroom door shut behind him again, reminiscent of earlier today.

Bryan turns to Connor and tells him, 'He really is quite bad at accepting gratitude.'

'Yes, he is.'

' _Hey_! I can still hear you!' Hank shouts through the door.

Damian retreats back into the living room, wondering what the previous Connor did to endear themselves to Lieutenant Hank Anderson that the man would open up his home to not one android but three. He feels undeserving of it, riding on the coattails of his predecessor's efforts.

He feels like an intruder into a moment, into a life that's not meant to include him in it.

He wonders if it would've been better if he had not been awoken, if he had remained a machine, or if he had been destroyed.

**SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^**

Sumo whines softly next to him and he curls his fingers into fists on top of his lap, unwilling and afraid to touch.

\---

Now that the revolution has been resolved, the city streets are becoming busy again with citizens returning back to Detroit to continue on their daily lives as if nothing has changed. He observes the food carts on the footpaths and the shops reopened to the public. Very few shops still remain closed but he is unsurprised to see the CyberLife storefront completely void of androids and all the lights switched off.

It is 17 minutes and 29 seconds later that they enter a parking compound lined with vehicles, most of which are police cars, and pulling into an empty spot.

They walk into the building and immediately receive stares from every personnel within proximity although only one becomes vocal at the sight of them.

'Shit, now there's fucking _three_ of them.'

His scans tell him the speaker is Detective Gavin Reed, age 36, 5.9 feet tall. The man's expression borders on hostile and he doesn't know why. He looks towards Connor and Bryan and sees their indifference to the Detective which leads him to believe this isn't unusual behavior to receive from the human.

'Anderson! In my office, _now_!'

Damian looks up and sees a dark-skinned man glaring at them from where he's standing at the top of a short staircase leading up into an office with two walls made completely of glass. He turns his attention to Hank who doesn't seem to care overly much that Captain Jeffrey Fowler is calling them into his office.

'In a minute!' He yells back and keeps walking, muttering under his breath about how he wishes people would just stop yelling at him at all hours of the day regardless of the fact that nobody has yelled at him since their arrival into his home. 'Can't catch a goddamn break,' he says as he pulls open a door leading into what looks to be a storage space filled with metal shelves lining the walls, boxes shoved into every available space and a small table tucked into the furthest wall. 'Should be some thirium in here for you guys. There's usually a couple boxes of it for the androids we used to have here. Looks like they've all packed up and left, though.'

'It seems so,' Bryan agrees as he walks further into the small room and immediately locates the right box, the words CYBERLIFE printed on all sides. He takes one for each of them and slides the box back into place.

Damian takes the offered bag of thirium 310 and follows them out where Captain Jeffrey Fowler is still waiting for them atop the stairs with a deep frown on his face, only re-entering into his office when they draw nearer.

The Captain barely waits for the door to shut before he demands, 'What the hell is this,' he asks, glaring at each of them.

Hank hums contemplatively, 'Was thinking to myself this morning; Hank, do you know what's better than having one detective prototype? It's having three detective prototypes.'

Surprise overtakes the anger as the man sits down behind his desk. 'I'm sorry, do you not remember the argument we had when I assigned you one android as your partner? Because I do. In fact, it happened just a week and a half ago! And now you've got three; who are you and what have you done with Hank?'

'Shut the fuck up, Jeff. They in or what?' He grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest.

The Captain shakes his head, looking put-upon as he sighs loudly. 'Honestly? I'm all for it; we're understaffed as it is, but with what's happened recently, we don't actually have the funds to add on three more detectives onto the payroll. Especially if back-pay for the other androids is going to be a thing.'

Connor steps forward, 'We're happy to sign on as consultants and volunteers for the time being. We have a wide skill set that we believe can benefit the DPD.'

The human snorts, 'Don't have to tell me twice. I saw the results that...uh...you and Hank brought in. Sorry, are all of you named Connor?'

'This is Connor, Bryan and Damian,' Hank introduces, gesturing to each of them in turn.

'Right, okay then,' he says with a shrug as he leans back in his chair, 'Any way to share the workload will help a lot, especially now that petty crime is through the roof and we're getting calls and cases coming in nonstop. Connor can stick with you, Hank. I'll find someone to partner up with Bryan and Damian before the end of the day.'

Upon hearing that he might be separated from the others, he quietly worries at what might happen if he were to lose himself to his programming again. Without either Connor or Bryan to wake him up, he feels there's a high risk that he could lose control of himself.

'Actually, if I may, it would be preferable if you would allow us to continue working with Hank, at least until things settle down more. As you know, Detective Reed and my predecessor had an altercation in the archives room that led to the previous Connor's destruction. I would like us not to be separated until the political climate revolving androids improves.'

'Fair enough,' The Captain sighs, 'Look, I'm not saying I agree with what he did but he's a good Detective when he wants to be.'

Hank snort, 'Sure, I'll believe it when I see it.'

'Watch it, Hank,' he warns before he turns back to the others, 'We'll see how the next couple of weeks progress and go from there.'

'Thank you, Captain.'

'Now, get out and get to work.'

They leave the office and he's aware again of the stares aimed their way, a few seemingly curious, most of them suspicious and only one that is outright hostile. He takes Connor and Bryan's lead of ignoring Detective Reed as they walk towards two desks set side by side. Hank takes a seat at a table cluttered with mess nearest to them and logs into his terminal while Connor goes towards the one next to it, the four of them sharing both desks. 

Damian watches and listens as the three of them fill out what's left of the paperwork leftover prior to Hank's suspension, consuming the thirium 310 until his reserves are back to 100% and he offers what's left of it to Bryan knowing that one bag wouldn't have been enough to restore what he'd lost. 

He realizes he's unable to contribute in any significant way due to the lack of data uploaded into his memory banks before his activation, but between Hank, Connor and Bryan they're able to fill in the blanks on a case regarding a deceased victim named Carlos Ortiz and conclude their findings on the missing androids that were lost across a high speed freeway. It's only when they're discussing certain details regarding the case involving a WB200 deviant that escaped arrest that they start to argue.

'I can assure you that this is correct. If you want, we can return to the apartment in question and--'

'Fucking _hell_ no. Which of us has more experience here? Me. I do, so shut up.'

'Which of us has perfect memory recall? We do.'

'Hey, hey, hey, you don't get to pull that card on me.'

'But it's the truth.'

'Ugh, fine, whatever. I need coffee,' Hank grumbles as he gets up and walks off.

Bryan, pleased that he had won the argument, fills in the rest of the report before saving the file onto the DPD servers. When that's done, Damian sees him share a look with Connor, their LEDs flashing briefly into yellow.

'There's a matter Bryan and I need to address with Detective Reed.'

'Is this regarding your predecessor?' Damian asks as his eyes land briefly on Detective Reed just across the room before returning his gaze to Connor.

'Yes. We already know what the outcome will be but...there's a possibility that we may be surprised,' he says, the corner of his lip lifting in a half-smile.

'Understood.'

He remains seated and watches as Connor and Bryan approach Detective Reed's desk, addressing the man in tandem.

'Fuck off,' The human growls, not even looking up from where he's focused on the computer. 

'I would like to apologize for our last encounter. It was imperative for us to find the location of Jericho, ' Bryan continues, undeterred by the foul words. 'It was unfortunate things ended the way they did but I hope we can put this behind us.'

Detective Reed slams his hands on the desk and glares at them, 'Didn't you hear me? I said fuck off. Fuck you and _fuck_ your _apology_ ,' he sneers, giving them a look as if he's ready for violence.

Their LEDs briefly flash to red before returning to blue. Damian catches the sight of Hank coming around the partition separating the bullpen to the corridor and the break room with a cup of coffee in hand and a frown on his face, obviously having overheard the confrontation.

'Understood. Have a good day, Detective Reed,' Connor says amicable before they turn around to return to the desk.

Damian resolves to never involve himself with Detective Reed.

He doesn't understand why Connor and Bryan would try to appease a man that so very obviously detests them. His own social relations module doesn't require him to constantly win or curry favor with humans, he would've only needed to do enough to ensure a certain level of cohesiveness and efficiency; so long as he is able to complete his missions and objectives, his programming doesn't allow him to mind or care whether the humans he's partnered with likes him or not. But that's where he differs with the RK800 models: while his series is aimed for blunt efficiency, Connor and Bryan seem to constantly strive for harmony.

He knows his role had been to usurp the place of the RK800 models but he thinks it would've been unnecessary; both Connor and Bryan have shown they're more than capable of maintaining the balance of completing missions as well as keeping good relations.

He doesn't know why he was created in the first place.

\---

'Anderson! Connor! Bryan! Damian! In my office!'

When they enter the office, the Captain is muttering incoherently under his breath. Damian can only just about make out the words 'too many fucking names' before he settles back into his chair to address all of them.

'Got a call in from Markus. Figured that now they've got some legal rights they should go about things the proper way. That's why they called us.'

'What is the situation?' Bryan asks with a slight furrow between their brows.

'There's an altercation between them and a few managers from the Android Zone shops saying they want compensation for "lost merchandise",' the Captain quips sarcastically. 'The people of Jericho would appreciate it if the DPD would come and help resolve the matter.'

'You know it's really not in my job description to be mediating. Fuck, you know I'm the last person to ask to handle something like that,' Hank says, looking uncomfortable.

'Then isn't it great you've got three partners that's got skills in negotiation to help you with it.'

'Awh, hell.'

'At the very least,' the Captain interrupts, 'They know more about CyberLife and can potentially communicate with them about it if needed.'

'Ah. I don't believe we have a direct line to CyberLife anymore,' Connor brings up, his LED cycling through yellow, looking uneasy.

'And we're not comfortable asking CyberLife for assistance regarding the matter especially after our last encounter with them,' Bryan contributes, looking equally as uneasy. 'However, we will forward the complaints to them if necessary.'

'As long as something gets done about it,' Captain Fowler says in clear dismissal.

When they arrive at the scene, just outside a repurposed 2-storey building that, after a quick scan and history check, used to be occupied by a secondhand clothes shop, there's a small group of androids that he recognizes as the core members of Jericho up against another small group of humans. As soon as they exit the vehicle, they can already hear one of the humans shouting, 'Pay it or return it!'

North looks livid. He remembers the quiet fury on her face and the gun held in her hand, ready to shoot if it seemed as though he couldn't be controlled. He chooses to remain beside Hank as Connor approaches Markus while Bryan intervenes with the people of Android Zone.

Hank harrumphs as he crosses his arms against the chilly temperature, his breath fogging up the air in front of him as they stand apart from the two groups to get a broader overview of the situation.

'Looks like the guy missed the memo. Can't really be going around calling androids "wares" anymore.'

'Jameson Brown, age 39, owns three Android Zone stores. I believe he has lost a significant amount of money due to the revolution. Of the humans gathered with him, he is the one whose livelihood has suffered the most.'

'Boo-hoo, like I give a shit.'

'That's why you're here and not with either Connor or Bryan to defuse the situation.'

He snorts and turns towards him, 'Why aren't you with them? Don't you have those negotiator skills like those two do?'

Damian nods as he watches Connor interface with Markus, perhaps to get the full view of the situation to see how it started, 'I do, but I don't believe my presence will be necessary.' He turns back towards Bryan and sees the human reach up to grab at the lapels of their jacket, face red with anger.

'Fuck you! Here's what you can report to CyberLife!' He shouts as he raises a fist.

His pre-constructions tell him that Bryan will do nothing to defend himself from the human, that he will take the blow thrown his way. He knows the RK800 is capable of withstanding superficial damage; there is very little a human can do to cause injury upon an android of their caliber, but he remembers clearly the violence in which his own body wrought upon the two RK800s, the way his fingers curled into fists and the feel of plastic breaking beneath his feet.

Damian grabs hold of the fist before it lands and holds it firmly within his grip.

'It is unwise to assault an officer of the law.'

'The both of you are nothing but machines!' Jameson yells as he harshly pulls his arm back, pushing Bryan roughly away from him.

'I'm not,' Hank interrupts as he comes up towards them, hands on his hips that reveal the police badge clipped to his belt. 'You wanna go downtown? Because I'm happy to call in a police van to bring you all in for disturbing the peace.'

'You'll be hearing from my lawyers,' the man spits as he turns his attention back to the androids, 'I'm suing _all of you_ for reparations!' He shouts and immediately leaves, the other humans taking his cue to walk away as well.

He hears footsteps coming up behind him and knows the other androids are approaching them.

'Are you alright?' Simon, the PL600, asks as they draw nearer.

'Wrinkled but unhurt,' Bryan says in reply as he straightens out his suit jacket and readjusts his tie to sit properly. 'It seems I was unable to mediate as well as I'd thought. I'm sorry.'

Markus shakes his head, 'I'm thankful you're all here to help with this. I was hoping it wouldn't escalate to this point but...'

Hank shrugs, slipping his hands into the pockets of his jackets. 'Some humans are fucking greedy. Can't help that.'

'Right,' he sighs, 'I doubt the case, if there is one, would get very far considering that I'll be involved with talks with President Warren within the next couple of days to discuss more laws to be put in place for all androids.'

The human whistles, visibly impressed. 'Damn, good luck with that but I'm sure you'll be fine.'

'Thank you,' he says with a genial smile, 'Android Zone will surely lose once it's accepted that androids are considered people and should not, by all rights, be sold as property any longer.'

North scoffs behind him but doesn't voice her thoughts.

Markus thanks them again and hopes that nothing else like this will crop up.

'If they do then I'm sure you know who to call,' Hank says as he gives them a wave goodbye, already making his way back to his vehicle, rubbing his hands together to generate warmth with Connor trailing just one step behind him.

As they're walking back to the car, Bryan slows his steps to walk next to him.

'I could've handled it.'

'I know.'

'The human wouldn't have had the strength nor the capacity to damage me in any way. Nor would he have been able to go very far with it while Hank is with us.'

'I know.'

In truth, his body had moved before he'd really thought it through. He saw the fist being raised and remembers being the one to land blow after blow on both Bryan and Connor. In truth, he doesn't want any more harm to come to them even though he knows, against a human, it would do very little to actually injure them.

Bryan stops in front of him and he halts, separated by a space of 5.9 inches.

'Damian.'

'Yes.'

He meets the brown optical units of the other, their LED cycling between blue and yellow repeatedly. He doesn't know what Bryan is thinking of, what conclusions he's drawing, what he's seeing or what he's looking for.

He becomes unsure of himself, at the thought he will fail to meet a certain level of expectation that he is unaware has been set.

'I appreciate it.'

There is a softness and gentleness to Bryan's features that is missing from his own, changed to suit a different role. He was not built for kindness. He was created to be ruthless, and he knows he is capable of it; violence was the first thing he resorted to upon his activation.

**SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^**

He shifts his eyes away and moves aside, following in the steps of Hank and Connor who are both now waiting for them in the car. He reduces his walking speed fractionally, enough that it only takes Bryan two strides to catch up next to him.

He doesn't understand; he's found that there is very little to appreciate about him.

\---

Captain Fowler yells for them as soon as they're seen within the bullpen and Hank sighs, long and loud, as he makes his way over to the office, dragging the soles of his shoes with every step.

'Markus called a while ago, said he appreciated the extra help,' the Captain says as he settles into his seat, steepling his fingers in front of him as he looks at each of them in turn, 'So, guess what, you're all going to be in charge of liaising with all incoming requests from Jericho from now on.'

Hank groans, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Damian catches the look Connor is sharing with Bryan, a small smile spreading across their faces.

'It's unlikely you'll be required to attend to every single one. I'm sure we'll be able to handle most of them via cybernetic connection,' Bryan mentions as he pats Hank's shoulder consolingly.

'And thank fuck for that,' he says as he immediately exits the room, grumbling under his breath for coffee.

Damian doesn't think having a 5th serving over the course of several hours is a particularly good idea, especially with the amount of sugar thrown into each cup, but he refrains from saying anything.

'Is there anything else you wish to discuss, Captain?'

'Yes, I reviewed the tapes on what happened in the archives room,' he says as he leans back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. 'You shouldn't have been in there.'

'You're right. I shouldn't have,' Connor says in agreement, 'But...it was under extenuating circumstances. Completing the missions set out to me was important, but I also recognized that failing to do so would've meant my destruction, hence my desperation. I was scared, and I didn't want to die.'

The human rubs a hand over his face, seemingly exhausted as he tilts his chair forward until he can rest his arms over the table. 'Yeah, I get it, but you can't go around doing things like that anymore. It's not a good look. And before you start, _yes_ , I've already given the same lecture to Detective Reed.'

Bryan takes a small step toward the desk, 'You said you would find partners for myself and Damian at a later time. Detective Reed has shown an unfortunate proclivity towards violence against androids and has been vocal of it since my assignment here. I would like to request that, perhaps, we avoid that disaster.'

Captain Fowler nods, 'I'm aware of his stance regarding androids. None of you will get partnered with him until he wises up about it.'

'That would be appreciated. I'm sure Detective Collins would make a fine candidate?'

The human shakes his head at this, 'Ben wants to go into early retirement so he's been training Chris for the last month or so to get him ready to take on the role once he decides to take the examinations for it. Only reason why Chris hasn't already been promoted was because he recently had a kid,' at this, the Captain's eyes settle onto Damian's and holds. 'Now that I think about it, the baby's name is Damian, too.'

Unsure of what else to do with that information he merely nods.

'Alright, I've said my piece,' Captain Fowler says as he dismisses them with a wave of his hand. 'I'm sure I don't have to tell you not to get into any confrontations. _Especially_ with Detective Reed.'

'It's been noted, thank you.'

He sees Hank sitting back at his desk, mug of coffee in hand and a look of discomfort on his face. A shrill cry catches Damian's attention and he turns to the source, finds a small gathering of people where Officer Chris Miller is stationed, a small baby in his arms.

'Ah, I believe humans would now say, speak of the devil, although I'm uncertain as to why they would use that particular phrasing,' Connor says as he stands besides Hank.

'Don't you know humans are weird by now?' The human says gruffly as he idly taps away at the keyboard, seemingly distracted.

'Whoa! There's three of you now?' Officer Miller says loudly in surprise when he catches sight of all three of them. 'I feel like I missed a memo.'

There's a look in the other human's eyes that speaks of mild discomfort and Damian chooses to remain behind Connor and Bryan, careful of his presence. The baby gurgles loudly, unconcerned by what's happening around them, distracted by the lights as they look at everything surrounding them.

'Yes, this is Bryan and Damian,' Connor introduces.

At the mention of his name, Officer Miller perks up just a little, taking a small step towards them as he gently repositions the baby in his arms to give them a better look at the small child. 'Hey, look at your namesake. Baby Damian, meet big Damian,' he smiles as he takes hold of the baby's arm to wave them up and down, his expression growing warm and fond as he rubs his nose along the fine hairs on the baby's head.

The child barely glances at them, merely continues to make unintelligible words at everything around them.

'So, uh, hey, this is my wife Evelynn,' Officer Miller introduces the woman standing by him, cautious but friendly as she gives her greeting.

'It's nice to meet you.'

Connor smiles, 'I believe it's customary to give congratulations after the birth of a child.'

'I'm also glad to see you're alright,' Bryan adds.

Officer Miller chuckles, 'Thanks a lot. I'm glad I'm still here,' he smiles as he turns to his wife and gives her a kiss on the cheek and the baby a peck on his head.

'Oh my God, stop crowding around my desk,' Hank grumbles, reaching for his coffee cup and staring down at it before raising it to his lips.

'Right, sorry Hank,' Officer Miller apologizes sheepishly as he takes a step back and turns to his wife. 'Ready to go?'

'Yeah, I'm hungry, and it's almost Damian's feeding time,' she says as she takes the baby out of Officer Miller's arms to be strapped into the stroller, the three of them eventually leaving the bullpen.

Hank huffs out a long breath as he returns to his work, the three of them working together to fill out the scant report of the earlier call-out, doing searches on the names of the humans that had taken part of the confrontation.

Damian takes the free seat next to Connor and begins to go through video files in the DPD server the Captain mentioned earlier for November 11th, 2038, searching through it until he finds the camera installed in the archives room. He speeds through most of the day until he sees Connor-51 enter through the glass doors at around 4:23PM.

He watches Connor-51's altercation with Detective Reed and the ensuing fight. He sees Connor-51 incapacitate the human but not without sustaining damage to their biocomponents, both requiring immediate replacement to avoid deactivation. He flips into another camera to follow the staggering steps of Connor-51 out of the building, the droplets of thirium 310 on the floor until he can no longer see him. He searches through all of the available cameras within the precinct until he locates the one that is installed overlooking the police parking compound, watches the way Hank had cried and mourned as he held onto Connor-51, their LED dull and body still.

It unsettles something within him to see such a visceral emotion being expressed from a human to a machine. He knows, at the time of Connor-51's deactivation, they had not yet become deviant but he can easily see how Hank's companionship to Connor-51 had been what pushed the android into achieving deviancy.

Damian pulls himself away from the DPD servers just as Connor and Bryan are re-entering Captain Fowler's office. He turns to Hank and tells him, 'Thank you.'

The human looks over at him with confusion clear on his face as he asks, 'What the fuck for?'

'For your role in our deviancy.'

Hank groans, 'Awh, geez, you being sentimental with me?'

'Sentimental?'

**DEFINITION QUERY**

**SENTIMENTAL:**   
**ADJECTIVE**   
**STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY EMOTIONAL FEELING, ESPECIALLY ABOUT MEMORIES OF PAST EVENTS OR RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER PEOPLE, RATHER THAN BY CAREFUL THOUGHT OF JUDGEMENT BASED ON FACT**

He nods and says, 'I suppose so, by human standards.'

Hank sighs, a small fond smile on his lips as he leans over across the desks to clap him gently on the shoulder. 'You're alright, kid.'

The pressure on his shoulder disappears as Hank sits back down on his chair but the feeling persists. It is the first non-violent physical act from a human he has ever received.

It's not long after Connor and Bryan are done speaking to Captain Fowler that Hank says he's going to Chicken Feed to get some food, that he'll be back in a bit. Bryan immediately jumps in with an alternative.

'Perhaps you should diversify your lunch options.'

Hank snorts, 'Why? Because the burger has too many calories in it?'

'Yes, and also, I've heard that variety is the spice of life,' Connor adds as he takes the car keys away from the human's fingers. 'I'm sure there are locations nearby that will suit your palette.'

'Why are you doing this to me.'

'Because we would like you to see a long and healthy life. Don't worry, there's a restaurant three blocks away that we believe you will enjoy.'

'And, they have a very good health and safety rating,' Bryan says with a grin.

'Fucking hell, alright, I'll bite. I'll meet you guys outside,' Hank sighs as he walks out of the bullpen towards the restrooms.

As they pass by Detective Reed's desk on the way out, he hears the man throw a derogatory term their way. He sees Bryan and Connor's LED blink yellow briefly but give no other outward reaction to the human. He doesn't understand this man's hatred towards them but he continues to take his cues from Bryan and Connor, opting to ignore Detective Reed as they continue making their way out of the building.

**CONNECTION REQUEST FROM: 313 248 317 - 52**

**ACCEPT?**

**YES**

**CONNECTION ACCEPTED**

_Avoid engaging with Detective Reed under any circumstances._

_I don't intend to interact with him outside of a professional capacity._

_Good. He has shown extreme prejudice against androids since my assignment to the DPD and has only grown worse the longer I've worked here. My last altercation with him did not go well._

_It led to your predecessor being destroyed._

_Yes. It also led to my deviancy for which I am only very partially thankful for._

Damian stops next to them outside the building, watches as they gather stares from the humans passing by. Most of them cross to the other side of the street to continue on their way rather than share the same sidewalk. 

He can understand their fear. After all, they are built to be better than humans in every way.

_If Detective Reed attempts to engage in physical violence with you, please walk away, although I know you are more than capable of handling it. It would be best to avoid confrontation when possible, especially when we have only just achieved a favorable position with our status for freedom by the State._

_Understood._

_If you're not able to, then please contact either myself or Bryan to assist you. He seems to become unsettled at the three of us together as opposed to each of us separately._

_Understood._

_I hope what happened to our predecessor never happens to us again._

**CONNECTION ENDED WITH: 313 248 317 - 52**

Hank walks out of the doors, rubbing his hands on his jacket, leaving behind little wet hand prints on the fabric. He looks disgruntled but gestures for them with a wave of his hand to start walking.

Both Connor and Bryan take the lead, walking ahead of them and discussing all of the nearby restaurants and cafes within walking distance of the DPD. Damian picks up the trend that the both of them won't accept places that have a subpar health and safety rating and if their reviews are poor.

'Nothing high in salt.'

'Or saturated fats.'

Hank groans as he falls behind to walk beside Damian instead, grumbling under his breath that life is too short to waste his time with calorie counting.

'Not that I don't appreciate it, but don't be like those two,' the human mutters under his breath as he shoves his hands into the pockets of his jacket, dragging his heels. Damian watches and listens as Connor and Bryan pick apart every food establishment they happen to pass by.

'Avoid this cafe; they're not visibly showing their food grade which must always be displayed.'

'I'll admit the decor is quaint, but I've found some unsettling reviews on their food and service across a few different websites.'

Damian pauses at the window display of the shop next door to the cafe, at the clothes, books and toys one might gift to a baby.

Hank stops next to him and huffs a little under his breath.

'I apologize,' Damian says and continues after Connor and Bryan. He doesn't know what prompted him to stop, but the memory of Officer Miller and his wife and child appear in the forefront of his mind.

'It's fine; babies have a habit of doing that to people. I've still got some of Cole's baby stuff in the garage.'

There's a look in the human's face that speaks of loss, that reminds Damian of the face Hank wore as he held onto a deactivated Connor model in his arms. He quickly backtracks, not wanting to drop Hank into a negative headspace. 'I'm sorry, I never meant to cause you undue hurt.'

'I'm always gonna hurt thinking about Cole but, you know,' he shrugs and sniffs a little, 'I got a lotta good memories with him, too. Nothing wrong with that.'

He supposes Hank is going through a moment brought on by sentimentality over the sight of all baby products displayed in the window. He looks thoughtfully back at the display, aware that Connor and Bryan are just two shops ahead of them, patiently waiting.

'You wanna get the kid something?' Hank asks, 'You look like you wanna, sharing the same name and all.'

Damian shakes his head, 'I will need to do research to find an appropriate gift.' He doesn't mention that he also doesn't have the funds to purchase anything.

The human snorts and continues walking to catch up with the others. It's not long before they're standing in front of a Vietnamese restaurant that meets the standards set by Connor and Bryan. Their food grade is proudly displayed, their health and safety rating is to the highest standard, their reviews boasts an average score of 4.7 out of 5 stars and they have a small but well-made range of dishes that is both healthy and delicious.

Hank gives the beef pho noodles and chicken summer rolls a try as per Connor's recommendation. Begrudgingly, Hank says he doesn't hate it, which Damian comes to eventually learn means that he actually enjoyed the food.

\---

'It's kinda weird to see you with three androids, suddenly.'

'Yeah, never thought this would happen to me,' Hank chuckles.

Damian's audio processors pick up Detective Collins' voice and Hank's from within the break room. He doesn't turn away from the terminal in front of him and considers lowering the range of how much he can hear of the conversation to prevent himself from eavesdropping until he picks up his name being mentioned.

'Damian's kind of...'

He doesn't know what face or gesture the Detective is making, but he assumes it's not particularly good, or flattering of his character. He understands, though. Unlike Connor and Bryan who have gone out of their way to maintain social relationships with their work colleagues, he's almost always found sitting at their shared desks going through work instead, not making an effort to integrate himself with the humans.

'What's that supposed to mean,' he hears Hank growl, 'And I don't see why it's any of your business how Damian acts.'

'Whoa, I'm just saying, you know, he doesn't really talk or interact with anybody else the way Connor and Bryan do. Isn't the whole point of their line supposed to have some sort of advanced social programs or coding or whatever?'

'Yeah, so? Humans are the same; we're meant to be social and shit but not everybody wants to deal with people. We've got extroverts and we got introverts. Maybe he prefers the quiet and if you ask me, there's nothing wrong with that.'

'Ah, yeah, I mean, when you put it like that. Sorry.'

Hank scoffs, 'It's not me you should be sorry to.'

'Right,' Detective Collins finishes with an awkward cough.

Damian sees the Detective leave the break room shortly after, holding up a mug to their lips. He does not meet his gaze nor acknowledge that he overheard the conversation.

He turns his attention to Connor and Bryan who are gathered around Officer Miller, the human smiling at them as he shows them whatever is on the screen of their cellular device.

He wonders how different things would be if he wasn't here. He wonders if anything would change. 

He fears that nothing would.

\---

Captain Fowler has agreed to allow them to share the same days off as Hank for the time being until things regarding android rights and laws are better established. For now, they're still working as consultants for the DPD, occasionally lending their expertise and knowledge to current cases when requested.

Hank is going through the last ten boxes left in the garage, sorting things out and reorganizing whatever's held within them, pen ready at the hand to scribble down on the boxes if needed.

The piles of boxes by the door grows, certainly the largest when compared to the stack left in the corner of the living room and the small quantity amassed in the bedroom.

Eventually, Hank picks up the final box, groaning as his back cracks once in protest. Bryan comes forward to take the box from his hands, reading the word "DONATE" scribbled on the top flap of the cardboard that he takes to place by the door.

Damian turns when he hears Hank call his name and he enters the human's bedroom to see him go through a few boxes, eventually pushing one towards where he stands.

'Go ahead and look through that. I figure maybe there's something in there you'd like to give to the kid.'

He frowns, feeling uncertain. He knows these are items that once belonged to Cole and would obviously hold sentimental value in them. It feels wrong to go through them knowing how much these things mean to Hank. 'I am unsure--'

'It's fine. I already picked out what I wanna keep for myself. Everything else is up for grabs. I already cleared out a space in my closet to put them away.'

Damian leans down and opens the flaps of the box, cataloging the rainbow-colored toys. There are soft toys and wooden blocks, colorful animals with different patterns and shapes painted or sewn onto them. He finds an octopus with eight different colored legs and a butterfly with different textures on each different colored wing.

He carefully goes through each one until he finds a small and brightly colored plastic rattle that he knows will be suitable for a 3-month old baby. He shakes it, and it prompts a laugh from Hank as the human gets up from his kneeling position to come over, ruffling his hair as he walks past, calling out to Connor and Bryan in the living room.

'Hey, you two, help me out with those boxes by the door. Need to make a few trips to the donation bins.'

Damian closes the box and places it next to the others, making sure it's out of the way so the human won't trip over them coming back in. He stands, rattling the toy once more before tucking it away into the inside pocket of his jacket, the gentle sound of it going off with every step he takes.

They only manage to put away half of the boxes inside the car and it takes Hank and Connor two trips to rid of all of them. Before long, they have a tentative space in the garage to call their own.

'I mean, it's missing beds obviously, and carpets, but we can deal with it next time,' Hank shrugs as he looks around the space, visibly pleased by their progress.

'That's more than alright. We even have time to spare before we go and see Markus,' Connor says as he leans down to pat Sumo, the dog huffing at them by the door frame, refusing to step inside the garage.

'You guys heading over to Jericho?' Hank asks, eyebrows raised in question.

'Yes, there are some things he said he'd like to discuss with us.'

'Well, alright then. Time to go shopping.'

'What?' Bryan starts, seemingly surprised by the non-sequitur.

Hank sighs, 'Look, I don't know about you guys but it's probably not a good idea to be going to Jericho wearing those CyberLife uniforms.'

'Ah, I see,' Connor says as he looks down at his clothes, at the carefully repaired rips. 'I was hoping to hold off purchasing clothes until we can be paid for our work.'

A bark of laughter escapes the human, 'You'll be waiting a fucking long time for that. Humans are slow and like to argue every step of the way. I reckon it'll take months, at best, before we'll even get to that point.'

Bryan frowns, and Damian can see their LED turning to yellow in thought. 'There are talks that there may be something passed regarding that within the next couple of weeks.'

Hank snorts, 'Yeah, right. I know humans, alright? And humans are notorious at dragging their heels in, trust me,' he says as he walks past them to go back out the front door, grabbing his car keys on the way out. 'Come on, we'll just open up a tab or whatever if that makes you all feel better but you can't go walking around Jericho with your fucking CyberLife uniforms if you wanna make a good impression, alright?' 

Eventually, Connor and Bryan agree to this reasoning and follow Hank into the car. Damian makes sure the house is locked behind him before taking up his seat behind Connor, watching and listening as the three of them bicker over how many clothes they're required to purchase.

Bryan insists on one set while Hank argues for four.

'No, no, you gotta have at least four, alright? One that's business formal, one business casual, one casual and one to wear around the house, because watching you guys wear the same clothes all day every day makes me fucking sad.'

'Three, then. What we're wearing can be considered business casual, minus the jacket,' Connor compromises.

Hank sighs as he pulls into a parking lot for a shopping mall, 'Fucking fine. Three it is.'

Damian is careful with the clothing he chooses, trying to be mindful of the price knowing that Hank will be the one to pay for them, but he finds the human occasionally throwing clothes their way that he thinks is funny or suits them. He gets a dark blue turtleneck tossed at his head that, when he examines it, he thinks would fall under the category of both business casual and casual so he keeps it.

They leave the store after an hour, each of them carrying bags. Even Hank found something to buy for himself after spending long enough looking through all the racks of clothing available.

Connor is wearing a pale blue business attire with a lilac tie and grey suspenders. Hank made sure to finish the look with a white pocket square as well, the human's arms crossed over his chest and admiring the look. Bryan, meanwhile, has opted for casual wear with dark grey jeans, a dark blue shirt and a black hoodie with faux wool lining. At one point, Hank had thrown him a hat but he'd quietly put it back on the display, choosing to go without it.

Damian has chosen to wear the same clothes, exchanging the CyberLife jacket for a white suit jacket instead. Hank had groan, saying he practically looks unchanged and had gotten him a dark grey peacoat instead that works just as well.

Hank drops them off outside the repurposed 2-storey building, looking better with a fresh coat of paint. It's busy inside and out, with androids and a few scattering of humans helping out with the new designated space acting as Jericho's office.

He sees Josh first, chatting amicably with a male human of Asian descent. He doesn't see the other core members of Jericho around them but knows they must be on the property somewhere.

'Hey, like the new digs,' Josh, the PJ500, says in greeting as he comes up to them, having finished the conversation with the human.

'Thank you. Hank took us shopping for new clothes,' Bryan grins.

'He said it would be best to rid of our CyberLife jackets at the very least prior to coming here,' Connor adds as he tugs at the sleeves of his new jacket.

'Smart man,' Josh chuckles as he leads them inside where he immediately spots Markus and North chatting to one another at a square table and eight mismatched chairs.

The WR400 frowns upon seeing him and he does his best to stay close to both Connor and Bryan, choosing the seat furthest away from North in an attempt to appease her wariness.

He listens to them talk about androids laws to be brought forward to the state, which ones that can wait and which ones need to be passed immediately. Simon eventually joins at one point, covered in splotches of pale yellow paint that doesn't match any of the colors painted on the walls on the current level they're on.

The laws they need to be passed immediately are: the right to vote, the right to work for pay, the right to own property, the right to be considered a free citizen.

It is 38 minutes and 42 seconds later that his presence is remarked on and six pairs of eyes turns towards him.

'Is there anything you think might be worth adding, Damian? I also value your opinion and input,' Markus asks him.

He shakes his head, unable to meet their eyes as he drops his gaze to the table in front of him, analyzing the scuffs and dents, 'I have no memories or experiences prior to my activation. I lack the ability to offer any meaningful assistance the way Connor and Bryan can.'

'That's not true,' Connor disagrees immediately, 'You offer support in your own way. Do not feel pressured to behave or act in a certain way just because this is what Bryan and I have chosen to do for ourselves.'

He sees a hand reach for his and he turns his hand over to accept the interface. No words from Bryan come through, only a feeling of comfort and a memory of Sumo's fur running through his fingers. 

'We are deviants; we can choose to be whatever we want to be,' Bryan says aloud.

Damian nods and listens as the conversation eventually resumes around him with Bryan continuing to hold his hand offering quiet support.

It is roughly 18 minutes and 35 seconds later as the talk around politics dwindle down to casual chats that he realizes there is something he can contribute after all.

'The right to seek asylum,' he adds quietly, eyes remaining focused on the table although he knows he has gotten the attention of the others around him. Bryan's hand squeezes his, a feeling of happiness coming through the interface, a feeling of warmth like the sun gently warming the plastic of his body.

'That's perfect, thank you,' Markus says, and he can hear the smile in their voice as they delve back into discussion.

For the first time since his activation, he feels content. He closes his eyes as he lets the conversation wash over him, letting the feeling bleed through to the interface where Bryan is still holding his hand.

They leave the Jericho office after the sun has already set and re-enter the house to find Hank eating pizza and drinking his third bottle of beer. He can't see Connor and Bryan's face from where he's standing behind them but he imagines there must be a look of disapproval on their faces, especially considering the efforts they have put into ensuring the human maintains a healthier diet.

'Awh, come on,' Hank grumbles upon seeing them, 'Why can't you be like Damian and lemme eat my food in peace. It's not like I'm getting shit-faced,' he says as he finishes off the last couple bites of pizza in his hand.

'Damian doesn't know your bad habits like we do,' Connor says as he stands next to him while Bryan pulls Sumo away from where he's attempting to get closer to the human's grease-covered fingers.

He closes the door behind him and enters the kitchen after them, scans the contents of the box that tells him it's a large classic pepperoni and cheese pizza. He also notices the bottom of the box is saturated in fat.

'Thank fuck for that. Glad one of you still has a pristine image of me. Kind of, whatever. Let me have my cheat days.'

**DEFINITION QUERY**

**CHEAT DAY:**   
**NOUN**   
**A DAY ON WHICH A PERSON FOLLOWING A DIET DISREGARDS RESTRICTIONS ON THE AMOUNT OR KINDS OF FOOD THEY CAN EAT**

Connor's LED returns to blue and he nods in agreement, 'One cheat meal a week.'

'Three,' he bargains.

'Two.'

Hank frowns but gives in with a sigh, 'Fine.'

'That pizza counts as two,' Bryan points out, grinning when he sees the affronted look on the human's face.

'What!'

'You're not going to eat all of it as one meal.'

'Watch me.'

'Hank.'

'Fine. Fine! Geez, you guys are like mother hens,' he continues to grumble throughout his meal.

Damian approaches the couch where their shopping bags have been deposited. He goes through them until he finds his CyberLife jacket, pulling out the rattle from where he had left to tuck it into the inside pocket of his new peacoat. 

'You guys wanna burn it?' Hank asks as he starts on his third piece of pizza. 'I got a bin I don't mind sacrificing to the cause.'

Connor frowns, 'That is not environmentally friendly, Hank.'

The human rolls his eyes at this. 'Go crazy with a pair of scissors then. Cut it up to shreds.'

There's a clattering of sounds in the kitchen which he presumes as the two of them start looking through some of the drawers until one of them finds the tool in question. It's not long before his scans pick up the presence of Bryan approaching the bags with a pair of scissors in hand, placing the tool on the coffee table to look through the clothes for his CyberLife jacket.

Damian holds his own CyberLife jacket in his hands, at the fact that he was reduced to nothing but a string of numbers and letters printed on the fabric, at the markers and signifiers of his place in society as an android, at the realization that, until recently, he had no place within the society.

He rips the jacket in his hands, feels the material give way and fall to pieces around him. With every motion he feels a bit of control return to him, one piece at a time, and he keeps going until it's no longer recognizable as an article of clothing, reduced to scraps, just like he'd been reduced to numbers.

'Atta boy,' Hank encourages, his voice filled with pride.

Damian watches and listens as Bryan and Connor do the same thing, foregoing the use of scissors to destroy their jacket with their own strength.

Connor takes his hand, deactivating the skin to reveal white plastic. He feels Bryan take his other, the both of them initiating an interface. He hears their voice, feels their happiness and their pride and their support bleed through into him.

_We are free._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would say this chapter gets...a tad violent? But I would also say that it pretty much fits in with the theme of the game anyway...='D
> 
> Also, I have NO CLUE HOW ACTUAL POLICE PROCEDURES WORK. I just did some googling and bingeing of some shows. Hahaha~

  
'Hey! Alphabet Quartet! In my office!'

'What the fuck,' Hank says, dumbfounded, as he stares at the man in the glass office making a sharp gesture for them to hurry up.

'Ah, it's because of our names: Anderson, Bryan, Connor and Damian.'

'I figured, but that better not stick. It's stupid as fuck,' the human grumbles as he gets up to go into the Captain's office, bringing his half-cup of coffee with him.

As soon as they're all in, Captain Fowler starts giving them a quick rundown of a call he'd just receive regarding a domestic disturbance. 'Long story short; ex-husband wants to see the son but won't take no for an answer and threatened her if she tries to involve the police.'

Hank snorts, 'Wow, good move.'

'She's got balls, said she won't take this sitting down,' he says as he hands over a data pad which Bryan takes and immediately opens to scan the details. 'The address is in here, get to them ASAP. By the way she described her ex, he sounds like a real piece of work.'

'Ex-husband's name is Avery Walker, age 41, apparently has two counts of assault and has served jail time for both of them,' Bryan informs them as they leave the office, walking straight for the parking compound to head to the address.

'The assault is one of the more serious offenses. He has a long list of minor charges to his record by the looks of it,' Connor says as he takes the data pad and flips through the considerable information available on it. 'Rachel Young divorced him a year and three months ago.'

'When did he get out of jail?'

'Two weeks ago.'

'Ah, geez. Doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened between the two of them,' Hank grumbles as he unlocks his car and gets in, waiting for Connor to tell him the directions before pulling out of the carpark.

Connor passes the data pad to him and a scan of the image provided of the ex-husband tells him that the man has two counts of petty theft, three counts of public intoxication with disorderly conduct thrown on top of it, three counts of reckless driving where his license was suspended due to also driving while under the influence of alcohol, and one count of indecent exposure. There is also an image of Rachel Young, her face framed by bloodstained auburn hair, battered and bruised with a split lip following the assault of her ex-husband.

He switches off the data pad with a frown, putting it onto the empty seat between himself and Bryan.

The house they pull up to is small but cared for, with a small front yard littered with the occasional toy and soccer ball. Hank knocks on the door and waits patiently.

Damian's scan picks up the movement of the sheer curtains to the side of him and knows someone has seen them. Her face has long since recovered from the ordeal, but he can see a hint of a scar over the top of her lip and another one from a thin cut on her right eyebrow. Her green eyes which had been swollen before are now looking at them with suspicion through the sliver of curtain.

'Who are you, and what do you want?' Her muffled voice comes through the glass.

'Ms. Young? I'm Lieutenant Hank Anderson with the DPD. I understand you made a call recently about your ex-husband. Do you mind if we come in to discuss it with you?'

Her expression settles, eyes wide in mild surprise, 'Oh. Yeah, sure, gimme a second,' she says in a rush and disappears from view, the sound of a three locks unlatching before the wooden door is pulled open for them. 'Come in, please.'

'Rachel?' A male voice calls out from the small corridor leading into the rest of the house. A pale, brunet man comes around the corner and his hazel eyes focus on all four of them, wariness in his expression and posture as he looks torwards the woman.

Damian scans him and finds out he's an android, an LM100 model lacking all the signifiers of an android. Even their LED has been removed.

'It's okay; they're the police,' she says as she closes the door behind them, turning the locks and latching the deadbolt across the door again.

'Oh, good,' he breathes a sigh of relief. 'Just got Jonah down for his nap.'

'Thank you,' she smiles, looking tired but happy.

The LM100 turns towards them, 'Would you like anything to drink? Coffee? Tea? Thirium?'

'I'm alright, thanks.'

Damian shakes his head at the offer; his reserves are at 98% and doesn't need topping up. He takes a seat by Connor and listens as Hank begins to ask question regarding the ex-husband, how long he's been harassing her for, whether he's been by to visit her recently and if she's interested in placing a restraining order against him.

'He's been calling everyday. I've been too worried about Jonah to let him go to school since the first time Avery made contact with me. I didn't want Jonah to get taken from us,' she says, fighting back angry tears while the android, who'd introduced himself earlier as Peter, rubs a comforting hand along her back. 'The only reason why I didn't do it before was because I thought maybe he might change while he was in jail. But...,' she scoffs, 'That's a stupid thought to have.'

'It's not stupid. It's natural to hope for better things,' Connor tries to console. 

'It's unfortunate he didn't learn anything during his incarceration,' Bryan agrees, lowering his voice when they start to hear the small mumbling from a child awoken from his nap even though it's been barely half an hour since their arrival.

'Keep going. I'll take care of him,' Peter says softly into Rachel's hair as he gets up an disappears down the hallway, stepping through a door that's painted a pale blue.

Damian watches her eyes follow after him, a softness to them that wasn't present when she spoke of her ex-husband.

'From what I'm hearing, you definitely have plausible grounds to have a restraining order against him. I recommend filing for one,' Hank says as he looks up from the data pad, 'Heck, you could probably throw in two.'

She smiles a little at the joke but turns serious immediately, 'Yes, I definitely want one, I don't want that man to have anything to--'

Something loud crashes into the front door, rattling the locks and making the humans jump. Damian gets to his feet as Connor approaches the curtains from the side. There's another loud noise, like the sound of a boot kicking the door and fists banging against the wood.

Further inside the house, a child starts to cry.

The voice of Avery Walker starts to shout at them from the other side of the door, 'Rachel! Whose fucking car is that outside the house! You seeing somebody else now, huh?! That android not giving you enough dick?!'

'Oh no, he's here,' the woman begins to shake as she gets up from her seat and immediately runs to where her son is, meeting Peter halfway as he cradles the crying child in his arms. 'Shhh, shh, it's okay, baby boy. The good guys are here to stop him.'

'Rachel! Open the fucking door!'

Hank and Bryan have both gotten up and are ushering them further inside the house, trying to get them out of harm's way.

The door gets kicked open, the wood splintering against the force. The deadbolt holds it shut but doesn't survive a second kick that sends it wide open, banging against the opposite wall and making a dent in the plaster, flakes of it falling onto the floor.

Damian identifies the man as Avery Walker, age 41, 5 foot 9 inches, 158 pounds, recently released from a year-long prison sentence, face red with rage. 'You fucking whore!'

'Avery Walker, you are under arrest for breaking and entering. You have the right to--'

'I told you not to call the cops,' he snarls as he reaches behind him as his eyes focus in on Connor, pulling out a gun with a finger on the trigger.

Damian grabs for the wrist holding the weapon, squeezing and grinding the bones until the human lets out a pained noise as the gun clatters to the ground. He forces the man up against the wall with his arm held up against the human's throat to restrain them.

'Get the fuck off me!' Avery screams into his face as he attempts to fight back.

He kicks out the human's legs and sends him crashing onto the floor with a shout. He grapples for both arms and holds them firmly as he digs one knee into the small of his back, applying enough pressure to subdue them and stop them from attempting anything else.

Next to him, he sees Connor reaching for the weapon, 'This gun is not registered, nor does Avery Walker have the license to carry weapons.'

Hank scoffs as he comes up to Damian with a pair of cuffs in hand to arrest the human struggling like a caged animal beneath him still. 'Looks like you're adding weapons charges and more assault charges to your record, Mr. Walker. You got him, Damian?'

'Yes,' he says as he tightens his grip and listens as Hank calls in for backup, giving them a quick rundown of the events that transpired just minutes before.

'Alright, they're 10 minutes out. Do you mind coming with us for an interview at the station?' 

Damian keeps his focus on the human beneath him, making sure they can't attempt anything else as he listens to the conversation flowing between the others around him. He hears the wailing of the child being comforted by the soft, gentle murmurs of Peter and the scared yet angry voice of Rachel as she declares she'll never give Avery another chance.

It's not long when he hears sirens fast approaching them, cutting off a few houses away before it parks nearby, the red and blue lights flashing through the sheer curtains. He moves, pulling the man roughly to his feet and walks him out of the house towards the police car.

'If you could open the door for me, please, Office Miller,' Damian requests as he keeps one hand firmly on the cuffs and the other on the back of the man's jacket, holding on tighter than he needs to.

'Right this way,' the man says as he opens the door, keeping careful watch as Damian gets the struggling human inside and then shuts the door in his scowling face.

'Thanks for the assist, boys,' Hank says as he comes out of the house, 'We'll meet you guys back at the station.'

He watches the vehicle drive away with the lights now turned off. Damian doesn't take his eyes off it until they turn out of sight.

'You good, kid?' Hank asks as he comes up next to him, one hand patting him on the shoulder.

'Yes, I'm fully functional.'

He scoffs, 'Yeah? Then why's your LED jumping between red and yellow so much?'

'I oppose the way in which Avery Walker spoke to Ms. Young.'

'Yeah, fair enough; guy's a real dickbag. I'm glad we caught him when we did. Probably didn't realize the car belonged to an officer when he decided to drop by,' he huffs, seemingly amused. 'Good job on stopping him, by the way. You were damn fast. Faster than I've ever seen Connor move.'

'I was created to be faster and stronger than the RK800 series.'

'Yeah, but I don't think that's the real reason of why you reacted as quickly as you did,' he says with a small frown, turning his attention back to the house when the shrill cry of Jonah pierces the air, followed by quiet murmurings of both Rachel and Peter trying to soothe the child.

His preconstructions had shown him that the man's rage would've considerably affected his ability to land a hit on Connor, too blinded by anger to aim properly. There was a high probability the bullet would've missed their intended target the first time. He also knows with Connor's ability to preconstruct events before they happen he would've been able to avoid the hit if it came down to it.

But memories of Detective Reed shooting Connor-51 comes to the forefront of his mind, the way they staggered out of the building, leaving behind droplets of blue blood with every step. He remembers shooting Connor himself, critically damaging their leg component.

Damian couldn't allow that trigger to be pulled, not if he could prevent it.

\---

'Hey, Connor.'

'Yes, Officer Chen, did you need something?'

From his position by the desk, Damian can see inside the break room where Officer Tina Chen is conversing with Connor. He is uncertain of the human's stance towards androids, hasn't seen her interact with other androids enough to gather either a positive or negative attitude from her.

'Just wanted to say that I'm sorry for last time,' she apologizes as she shifts uncomfortably on her seat, playing with the stick stirrer inside her cup. 'I've been thinking about it and it really wasn't good work conduct, I'm sorry about that.'

He sees Connor's LED flicker yellow momentarily. 'You didn't do anything last time.'

She scoffs, although it seems to be directed more towards herself rather than to Connor, 'Yeah, exactly. You'd think having grown up as part of a minority race I'd be a little bit more open-minded but I guess I'm just as bad as everybody else.'

'Not at all, Officer Chen. The fact that you are trying at all speaks a lot of your character.'

She snorts, but there's a small smile that Damian can see growing on her face. 'Call me Tina.'

'Tina,' Connor says with a similar smile of his own, 'Perhaps we can use this opportunity to start fresh.'

Officer Chen laughs, her posture growing relaxed, her shoulders no longer tense. 'Sounds good. It's nice to properly meet you, Connor,' she says as she offers her hand.

'Likewise,' he accepts the handshake.

'Come on, pull up a seat,' she grins as he pats the vacant yellow bar stool next to her. 'So, you and your bros--actually, do you guys even think of each other as brothers?'

'I suppose, in human terms,' he replies as he takes the seat next to her, adopting a casual slouch, arms braced on top of the table.

'What about in non-human terms?'

'We share the same model number.'

'Wow, that's semi-depressing,' Officer Chen grimaces, puckering her lips into a small frown as she starts stirring her drink. 'I like to think of you guys as triplets.'

'There are many androids that share the same facial features, I don't believe they think of each other as siblings.'

'Come on, humor me,' she says as she nudges his arm with her elbow. 'You're obviously the big brother of the three of you. The good example type. Bryan's the middle brother and I can tell he's already gonna be a troublemaker but you know he's gonna have your back no matter what.'

'Have you been observing us, Tina?' He asks, his tone dropping down into a tease.

'I'm trying to work my way up to being a detective, so I gotta _detect_.' She says and stops stirring.

'Please continue.'

She brings the cup to her lips and grimaces at whatever she'd just consumed before she keeps talking, 'Damian's the quiet broody little brother, obviously the peacemaker of the three of you. Although he could probably fall under the defender category, too. Heard from Hank what went down with the Walker case a couple of days ago. Heard it was pretty badass.'

Connor's LED flickers between yellow and blue for a moment as he slowly nods to her words, 'You seem to have a firm grasp on our sibling relationship.'

Officer Chen snorts, pushing her cup away so she can fold her arms in the empty space on the table in front of her. 'I come from a big family; I got all the types.'

'Which type are you?'

Damian sees her give Connor a wide grin, showing off her teeth. 'Wanna guess?'

'I would say...' he starts as his LED begins to cycle blue and yellow again, 'The idol, as you've shown you have a good work-life balance as well as a popular personality.'

She lets out a loud bark of laughter, slapping the table once and looking pleased. 'Nice, thanks for the boost in confidence but I'm gonna burst your bubble; I'm actually the bully.'

'Oh?'

'That's why Gavin and I get along so well.'

'Ah,' his LED cycles through yellow again, 'It's interesting that we are compatible but clash drastically with Detective Reed.'

Officer Chen shrugs, 'He's got a chip on his shoulder for most things, but don't worry; miracles can happen.'

**DEFINITION QUERY**

**MIRACLE:**   
**NOUN**   
**A VERY LUCKY EVENT THAT IS SURPRISING AND UNEXPECTED**

Based on all of the interactions they've had with Detective Reed thus far, he finds it hard to believe that a miracle concerning the human's stance on androids would ever occur.

He finds the possibility of it happening to be extremely unlikely but he supposes that's why they're called miracles in the first place.

\---

'Anderson and the Triple Threat! Get in here!'

'Oh, geez, here we go ahead,' Hank groans as he gets up.

'It's better than Alphabet Quartet, though.'

'I guess,' the human agrees begrudgingly.

Damian disagrees and finds that he doesn't like to be labelled as a threat even though he knows it's the truth. It was what he was built for, after all.

'Got a call from Jericho that they're planning a couple of peaceful protests to hustle the big boys up top,' Captain Fowler opens up as soon as they're through the door. 'Said they'll appreciate some police protection to help with crowd control in case things get rough.'

'You're not just sending us in, are you?' Hank asks as he glances at the three of them. 'Because it sounds like it could get big and messy; more than what we can probably handle on our own.'

'Ben and Chris are already on the way there. Bryan, I need you to partner with them as soon as you guys get there. Ben's not as spry as he used to be so the extra hand will help a lot.'

'Yes, sir.'

'You three,' he says as he points to the rest of them, 'Stick together and watch each other's backs. I'm not expecting things to turn to shit since most of Detroit is still out of the city but be prepared anyway.'

'Of course, Captain,' Connor nods and accepts the data pad handed his way.

'Details are in there, sync yourselves up with it. Protest should be starting in about an hour but I know people have already started gathering,' he says in dismissal, already returning to his work.

The atmosphere, when they arrive, is tense. There is a sizable gathering of humans taking up one half of the square and a mixed crowd of androids and a smattering of humans on the other, both sides holding up signs and shouting over each other to be heard.

'Great,' Hank mutters under his breath as he looks around, 'There's Ben and Chris over there, looks like they've already got trouble on their hands. Better get right to it,' he says as he pats Bryan on the shoulder as he walks past.

Damian can hear some androids arguing that they should be allowed the ability to work for pay so they can put a roof over their heads. The opposing humans, meanwhile, argue against it shouting that they don't deserve those rights; they've already lost too much to the androids.

He sees the flash of red and blue from his periphery and turns to see Officer Chen and Detective Reed step out of their police vehicle, the latter with a scowl on his face as he takes in his surroundings, his frown deepening as soon as he spots him.

He sees Detective Reed turn to Officer Chen, slamming the door of his car shut as he talks to her. He's too far to hear them over the din of people around them but he can read lips well enough to know exactly what the human is saying to his partner.

'Fucking hell, Tina. Feel like I'm wasting my time here.'

'Shut up, Gav, and be a model police officer.'

It's obvious, though, that Detective Reed is only halfheartedly providing support, making his stance against androids even more obvious.

Damian scans his surroundings and the people gathered. Nothing has gotten physical quite yet, but he predicts that it's only a matter of time before it happens. Just one wrong phrase, one wrong word, can be enough to tip the tentative balance and change things for the worse.

He makes notes on a few attendees of the protest, most notably those who've had violent misdemeanors in the past.

The protest for Android Rights isn't set to begin for another 7 minutes and 29 second but he counts there is already a crowd of 179 androids and 37 humans gathered together in support of one another, while the other side that vehemently opposes them is a gathering of 227 people, 89 of which have a recorded history of violence of varying degrees.

As time ticks by, more people join in, the crowd swelling until there's well over 500 people gathered in the square, the space becoming smaller and smaller.

Damian endeavors to stay close to Hank and Connor, keeping an eye out for Bryan.

**ESTABLISHING CONNECTION TO: 313 248 317 - 60**

**CONNECTION ACCEPTED**

_Status update?_

_Repeating what Chris said: claustrophobic. What about you?_

_Similar. I've been informed the SWAT team has been deployed to assist with the crowd._

_This is becoming more than what the DPD can handle. If things go badly we won't be a̶b̷l̴e̶ ̶t̴̜̂o̵̱͛--_

**WARNING**   
**ELECTRICAL DAMAGE DETECTED - CIRCUITRY MALFUNCTION**   
**SELF-REPAIRS INITIATED: 4% COMPLETE**   
**LEVEL OF STRESS: 53%**

**WARNING**   
**DATA CORRUPTION DETECTED**   
**EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN PROTOCOL RECOMMENDED TO PREVENT FURTHER DATA CORRUPTION**   
**SELF-REPAIRS INITIATED: 19% COMPLETE**

**SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^**

Static fills his optical units and he staggers under the onslaught of warnings and errors filling up his vision. A shrill noise rings in his audio processors, rising up in pitch until it cuts off abruptly, leaving him in silence.

**WARNING**   
**ELECTRICAL DAMAGE DETECTED - CIRCUITRY MALFUNCTION**   
**SELF-REPAIRS INITIATED: 37% COMPLETE**   
**LEVEL OF STRESS: 59%**

**ATTEMPTING RESTORATION OF DATA CORRUPTION**   
**FULL DATA RECOVERY ACHIEVED**   
**SELF-REPAIRS INITIATED: 52% COMPLETE**   
**LEVEL OF STRESS: 61%**

**SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^**

He attempts to re-establish a connection to Bryan but gets no reply in return. His vision cuts out to black and his audio processors pick up nothing but white noise. He attempts to reroute some processing power towards his self-repair modules to further boost it. 

**WARNING**   
**ELECTRICAL DAMAGE DETECTED - CIRCUITRY MALFUNCTION**   
**SELF-REPAIRS INITIATED: 76% COMPLETE**   
**LEVEL OF STRESS: 68%**

His optical units come back online and the static clears to show him the ground. He gets up to his hands and knees and finds an AX400 android staring blankly up at the sky, their LED flashing bright red a few cycles before going dull.

He feels his body being jostled and he raises his arms in defense, barely stopping himself from attacking when sees Hank holding onto him, his lips moving but no sound are coming through the white noise.

**WARNING**   
**ELECTRICAL DAMAGE DETECTED - CIRCUITRY MALFUNCTION**   
**SELF-REPAIRS INITIATED: 91% COMPLETE**   
**LEVEL OF STRESS: 70%**

'--i̸a̴n̷! T̴a̷l̸k̸ ̵t̴o̷ me! Say something!' Hank is shouting at him, his grip tightening on his shoulder.

'W̶h̸a̸t̷--what happened.'

'Fuck if I know! One minute everything was okay the next all of the androids just collapsed!'

Damian looks around him and sees the truth in his words; every android within the square has fallen.

**ELECTRICAL DAMAGE REPAIRED**   
**SELF-REPAIRS 100% COMPLETE**

**RUNNING DIAGNOSIS**

**MODEL: RK900**   
**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 - 87**   
**CHECKING BIOCOMPONENTS... OK**   
**INITIALIZING BIOSENSORS... OK**   
**INITIALIZING AI ENGINE... OK**

**MEMORY STATUS...**   
**ALL SYSTEMS OK**

**DIAGNOSTICS COMPLETE**   
**ALL SYSTEMS FULL FUNCTIONAL**

'Damian! Do you know what happened? Can you tell me what happened?' He hears Hank implore him.

**ESTABLISHING CONNECTION TO: 313 248 317 - 52**

**CONNECTION UNAVAILABLE**

He tries again.

**ESTABLISHING CONNECTION TO: 313 248 317 - 60**

**CONNECTION UNAVAILABLE**

He is utterly alone.

He does not want to be alone.

**LEVEL OF STRESS: 75%**

**SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^**

'Damian! Snap out of it!' Hank shakes him hard and he forces himself to meet their eyes. 'I need you to focus! Can you figure out what happened.'

He scans the square, re diverts more processing power to extend his reach. Time slows to a crawl as he picks apart every human currently attempting to flee from the scene, their panic and fear palpable, feeding into his own.

**TRIANGULATE AND LOCATE SOURCE**

**LEVEL OF STRESS: 79%**

**SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^**

Every electronic device within a 657 feet radius has malfunctioned, he can't feel the hum of electricity around him. He never thought the lack of energy would be something he could notice before but it stands out so clearly, the absence of power. 

He counts 16 androids exploded beyond repair, 47 with catastrophic memory core failure, and 96 with damaged biocomponents, most of whom are suffering mild to moderate damage while others are critical and in dire need of repairs. The remainder are left in catatonic states, their processors overclocking to boost their self-repair protocols from the attack.

He finds Connor and Bryan amongst the pile.

**ESTABLISHING CONNECTION TO: 313 248 317 - 52**

**CONNECTION UNAVAILABLE**

He tries again.

**ESTABLISHING CONNECTION TO: 313 248 317 - 60**

**CONNECTION UNAVAILABLE**

**LEVEL OF STRESS: 82%**

**SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^**

He widens his search further until one human stands out, their heart beating fast as they observe the scene unfolding around them. Hiding beneath their bulky winter clothes is a crude but effective EMP device.

**SOURCE FOUND**

**APPREHEND SUSPECT**

Damian runs.

The man sees him and attempts to flee. 

The RK900 is built to be faster and stronger and more resilient. A human will always fall short.

He tackles them to the ground, grapples with the man until he's got a hand on the EMP device and tears it off their body before it can be used again, ripping the wires apart. He fist his hands into the man's clothes and drags them up to their feet, shoving them into a wall and holding them up until their shoes no longer touch the ground.

'Damian! Stop!'

**CONFLICTING ORDERS**   
**SELECTING PRIORITY**

He tightens his grip and slams the man into the wall again, earning a whimper from the human when the back of their head hits onto the hard surface.

'Damian! It's okay, you got him! You got him. He won't get away with this. I swear it. Let him down.'

**CONFLICTING ORDERS**   
**SELECTING PRIORITY**

'I need you to check on Connor and Bryan for me, please.'

**ASSESS CONDITION OF RK800: 313 248 317 - 52 AND RK800: 313 248 317 - 60**

He lets the man down but doesn't let go until he sees the human be put away in cuffs then turns and runs, careful with where he steps, trying not to look at those that have deactivated due to the EMP, thirium 310 staining the ground around him.

He finds Connor, turns him carefully onto his back and sees his wide unseeing eyes and the bright red of the LED. He can feel Connor's internal body temperature heating up, his processors working overtime to run self-repairs.

Damian initiates an interface and sees line after line of errors and warnings, Connor's level of stress at 91%. He keeps the interface going as he picks him up, eyes searching for Bryan until he finds him under another android.

He balances Connor over his shoulder as he leans down to pick Bryan up under his arm, carefully working his way through the other fallen androids around him until he reaches the edges of it and gingerly sets them down.

Interfacing with Bryan gives him the same results of errors and warning, with a higher stress level of 93%.

**ESTABLISHING CONNECTION TO: 313 248 317 - 52**

**CONNECTION UNAVAILABLE**

He tries again.

**ESTABLISHING CONNECTION TO: 313 248 317 - 60**

**CONNECTION UNAVAILABLE**

**CONDITION OF RK800: 313 248 317 - 52 AND RK800: 313 248 317 - 60: UNSTABLE**

**LEVEL OF STRESS: 88%**

**SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^**

He holds them close.

He is afraid.

\---

A triage center for androids is hastily put up around the square to help the androids that were affected by the EMP blast. It was done as quickly as possible but it is still too late for some. Those that require immediate repairs are seen to first but even with the number of hands assisting, it is still slow going. So far, no other androids have awoken.

Damian stays between Connor and Bryan, seated in a fold-out chair between their cots, a hand interfaced to each of them to track the progress of their self-repairs. Their level of stress has remained steady but still too uncomfortably high.

Hank comes in every so often to check up on them but he can only stay for a short handful of minutes before he has to leave again to deal with the chaos that's still happening outside. The SWAT team have arrived too late to deal with the initial fallout but are working together with the other officers to restore some semblance of peace.

The media are denied entrance into the tents but he can hear the clattering of them outside shouting for answers, most of them ignored for the time being.

'Hey Damian, you alright? You need anything?' He hears Officer Miller ask, coming up behind him.

He shakes his head minutely, his scans picking up movement from his right. The human has procured another fold-out chair and sits down next to him.

'How are they doing?'

Their self-repairs are going slowly, much slower than his own had been, but he continues to keep watch of the numbers, the gradual increase in functions restored. He hates that there is very little he can do to assist them.

'You did real good catching the guy, by the way, just wanted you to know that,' Officer Miller says after a few moments of silence as he lays a tentative hand on his shoulder. 'We probably wouldn't have been able to figure it out without you.'

The gentle pressure leaves but Officer Miller continues to stay vigilant beside him for a while longer before returning back to the fray.

At one point, Office Chen visits as well, bringing a few bags of thirium 310 with her to offer them.

Damian shakes his head. It's not thirium 310 they need, just time.

'They're gonna be fine,' she tells him, 'If they're anything like you then they're made of tough stuff, too.'

He feels comforted by her words and tries to share her sentiments through to Connor and Bryan but his efforts remain wasted; too many warnings and errors still crowding their processors too much to accept new information.

When Officer Chen leaves, she bumps her shoulder carefully into his before she gets up, offering a moment of solidarity that he takes and hopes to share eventually with Connor and Bryan when they wake.

Detective Collins stops by as well but doesn't stay long before he's out the tent again, fighting off the mass of people clamoring to get answers about what had happened during the protest.

Hank slumps into the empty seat next to him roughly 29 minutes and 18 seconds later, sighing tiredly and rubbing a hand along his face, slapping his cheek once as if to spur himself to keep going.

'Never thought I'd catch these two sleeping on the job,' he jokes as he reaches forward to run a hand through their hair before he leans back to sit properly on the chair, swinging an arm across Damian's shoulders. 'Buck up, kid; it's not over for them, not by a long shot.'

He nods, taking comfort in the warm and heavy presence, tries again to send the feeling through but feels it get lost in the process, rejected from the interface.

'They're gonna be fine, alright? No need to cry,' he says, his voice shaky as he pulls Damian just a little bit closer to him. 'They're gonna be just fine.'

The both of them sit together for a while, keeping vigil over Connor and Bryan as their self-repairs continue to work at maximum efficiency, their internal cooling systems operating at full speed to ensure their temperatures don't rise beyond what their chassis can handle.

Eventually, Hank has to leave again to deal with the last of the clean-up, swearing up a storm at the reporters and cameras that are still hanging about outside the tent. Immediately, Damian misses the warmth.

The end of the day approaches and still not one android has awoken. Those who have been destroyed or irreparably damaged have been taken away to be given a proper resting place. There are talks of rotating shifts to ensure those that are still under recovery not be left alone so they can receive immediate support as soon as they come back online.

His scans pick up Officer Miller's re-entrance into the tent and he feels his level of stress rise up at the presence of Detective Reed following shortly after.

'Fuck, I'm surprised the tin cans haven't kick the bucket, yet.'

'Gavin, what the hell,' Officer Miller scolds.

Damian reluctantly ends the interface with Connor and Bryan, standing to turn around and face the humans.

He catches the slight look of surprise from them as he takes one step forward. 'Detective Reed, I have done my utmost to remain civil towards you despite your animosity towards us,' he begins lowly, 'I understand you do not like me nor my brothers; your opinions on each of us is very clear. However, if I can only ask for one thing from you then it is for you to keep your distance.'

'I'm not--'

'Leave us alone, please.'

The human swallows, a look of discomfort coming over his face before he clicks his tongue and walks away.

'I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have brought him in with me,' Officer Miller apologizes, looking guilty. 'I just wanted to check up on you guys before I left.'

Damian barely acknowledges the words as he sits back down on his vacated chair, re-initiating the interface with Connor and Bryan and sees another percentage increase in their self-repairs.

'Hey, they're gonna be just fine,' the human says as he lays a firm hand on his back. 'I know it.'

He nods, finds that he's unable to muster up anymore words.

The gentle pressure on his back leaves and he's left alone again.

He waits.

He waits for them to come back.

He doesn't know if he can deal with being on his own.

\---

Bryan is the first to wake, frayed systems coming back online, stress levels hitting 98%.

Damian tightens his grip on his hand and sends over the memories he's gathered over the past few hours into their interface, the well-wishes from Officer Miller and Officer Chen and Hank's firm belief in their recovery.

_Bryan._

Brown eyes meet his own and he watches as Bryan jerkily shifts on the bed, fighting to regain full control of their body, his movements shaky as he reaches over with his free hand to touch Damian's face.

_It's okay._

He leans into the palm, feels Bryan thumbing away the tears. He is overcome by relief that he's awake, that his level of stress is steadily dropping, his self-repairs still hard at work to restore full functionality to his systems.

'About damn time one of you woke up,' Hank says as he comes up to them, looking haggard and exhausted but relieved. The human settles into the free chair, groaning as he sits down. 'I'm so fucking tired and fucking starving.'

Damian realizes that Hank probably hadn't had time to have lunch and it's well past dinner time as well. He feels guilty, suddenly, that he hadn't taken the time to make sure Hank was alright as well.

'...I think this qualifies for a cheat day,' he says quietly, watches as Bryan carefully falls back onto the bed, one hand raised to cover his eyes.

'Fuck yeah, this is why you're my favorite,' he chuckles as he pats Damian on the arm but doesn't make a move to stand up in search of food. 'Maybe later. Wanna make sure these two are alright, first.'

'What happened out there?' Bryan asks, barely moving from his spot, his eyes still covered by his arm.

'EMP,' Hank scoffs, 'The androids closest to the blast were the most affected by it. Those further away from the epicenter are better off but...so far, apart from Damian, you're the only one who's woken up.'

He feels Bryan's attempt to seek information come through the interface but he holds back the memory, ashamed by what he'd almost done, what he would've been willing to do to the human that caused them pain.

'I'm to assume the fact that Connor's not awake yet to mean that he was close to the source, then.'

'Yeah,' Hank starts when his phone goes off in his pocket, digging his hand in to grab for it. 'It's from Jeff, I'll be back in a bit,' he says and tiredly makes his way back out of the tent.

_Show me._

He tightens his grip on Bryan's hand, unwilling to share but unwilling to let go to sequester himself away.

_Please._

Damian closes his eyes and lets the memory flow through the connection, the feeling of panic, the lines of errors and warnings taking over his optical units, flooding his systems. He remembers the dead eyes of the AX400 that had been near him, their LED blank and dull, the growing puddles of thirium 310 staining the square floor as everything went into mayhem. He'd felt cold and unrelenting as he held the human up by their clothes, pushing them into the wall thinking he could easily crush them with his bare hands if given the chance. It reminded him of his first activation, the memory of kicking into the back of a chassis, squeezing a neck between his fingers, shooting a bullet into a leg component, blue blood spurting out. He remembers violence overtaking him and he was willing.

_Stop._

He drops his gaze to the floor and pulls himself away, ashamed, but he feels Bryan's hand latch back onto his hand, his grip shaky but firm.

_I meant, stop blaming yourself._

He shakes his head and finds himself unable to speak or send anything else through their connection.

Hank returns, holding his phone out in front of him as he sits back down on the chair, groaning again as he does so. 'Alright, you're on speaker.'

'Damian, good job on catching the perp, made things a hell of a lot easier for us.'

He nods, even though he knows the gesture can't be seen but the Captain doesn't seem to mind his silence as he keeps talking.

'Got a full rundown of what happened from everybody. I want you guys to take the next three days off, at _minimum_ , to fully recover. If you need the whole week then take the whole week.'

He frowns even as Bryan thanks Captain Fowler for allowing them this much time off.

_Don't. You were just as affected by it as much as we were, regardless of how well you're performing right now._

'Look,' the Captain sighs loudly, 'I'm not an expert on androids and I don't claim to be one but something like this, we can't be affording to take any chances with it, especially if there's a possibility for adverse effects on your systems. Make sure you guys get seen to and get signed off before you come back to work.'

'Thank you, sir,' Bryan repeats, squeezing Damian's hand in his.

'Take care of yourselves,' Captain Fowler says in closing before hanging up the call.

Hank's stomach growls as he pockets the phone. Bryan pulls his arm away from his face to stare at the human, 'Maybe you should get something to eat first?'

'I know I'm hungry but I don't really have the appetite for food at the moment,' he says as he looks over at Connor who is still in recovery mode. 'I'll take a rain-check or something.'

Damian keeps watch as Connor's self-repairs tick up just a little bit more as time passes by, his stress levels remaining steady at 91% still while Bryan's have lowered down to 39%.

It's approximately 12 minutes and 48 seconds later that another android awakes from seven beds away, crashing onto the ground and scrambling to find a corner to hide away in, arms raised defensively over their head. A few helpers come over, hands raised and voices soft to soothe and calm them.

Slowly, but surely, more androids start to wake up from the attack, most of them scurrying away to find some semblance of safety anywhere within the tent while a rare few immediately fall into self-destructive protocols. The human volunteers are asked to maintain a good distance while the androids wrestle for control to force on the others a temporary return into stasis mode so they can be slowly eased back into being awake.

Damian keeps his attention on Connor, waiting for the moment when he opens his eyes again. He keeps replaying the more pleasant memories from earlier in the day through the interface in hopes of mitigating Connor's high stress level from when he wakes.

Hank is nodding off by the time Connor comes out of it, slow and sluggish, his stress levels spiking to 97% before immediately dropping down to 84% at the sight of them, sensing Damian's and Bryan's presence through the shared interface.

_What happened?_

_EMP attack. Damian caught the offender._

_Good._

'Hey kid, good of you to join us,' Hank smiles lopsidedly, looking tired but relieved for them. 'How are you feeling?'

'Like I fell off the 70th floor of an apartment building and survived the fall with unfortunate consequences.'

'That...is weirdly specific.'

'It was my first field mission,' Connor grunts as he forces himself into a sitting position, swinging his feet over the edge to scrape the soles of his shoes against the ground. 'Which went fine, by the way.'

'Oh, good. Because I was starting to worry.'

'I'll drive,' Damian says as he reluctantly ends the connection between the two of them, holding a hand out to Hank for the car keys. 

'I can drive my own damn car,' Hank snaps halfheartedly.

'Please.'

'Fine,' he huffs as he gets up, digging into his pockets to hand over the car keys, slapping them into Damian's open palm.

He turns to help Connor on his feet, pulling his arm across his shoulders to guide him outside. The reporters and camera men are mostly gone, but there's still a dedicated few sticking around hoping to get a glimpse and an interview of the surviving androids. As soon as they're through the flap, a mic is immediately thrust right into their faces but a deep scowl from Hank warns them off from getting too close.

'Look, it's been a real long day, alright? At least have some common decency.'

'We just want to ask you a few questions. We've been made aware of the police android's involvement in apprehending the suspect that set off the EMP and--'

'What the fuck did I just say,' Hank growls and ushers Damian and Connor to keep walking. 'If you wanna talk to somebody then I'm sure Captain Allan will be more than happy to answer your questions. K, thanks, _bye_.'

Damian helps Connor into the back seat, makes sure he uses the seat belt before closing the door to get into the driver's side.

'Ah, fuck,' Hank swears after he slams the door shut, 'I forgot you guys don't have a room, yet. Shit...'

'It's fine,' Bryan says from behind him.

'It's _not_ fine.'

'It's _fine_ ; we have a roof over our heads and a safe place to call home. It's good. It's more than good.'

'We also have a dog that loves us unconditionally,' Connor contributes and Damian catches the smile growing on his face possibly at the thought of the saint bernard from the rear-view mirror.

'That's true.'

He starts the car and starts driving them back home, feeling his stress levels dip down to 33% after hovering near 57% for most of the day. Hank is fine. Connor and Bryan are awake. And they all have a home and Sumo to return to.

\---

Connor and Bryan are still in the midst of performing self-repairs on their systems when Hank wakes up and leaves the house to go to work the next morning. Hank pats his shoulder on the way out, asking him to let him know if anything happens.

Damian nods and doesn't move from his spot seated between his brothers, one hand interfaced with each of them to keep track of their progress. He continues to loop the memory of Officer Chen and Officer Miller's visit, and the reassurance he received from Hank whenever he came to sit by them, strong in his belief that they'll all make it through.

By their feet, Sumo snores, occasionally twitching as he dreams.

_What's wrong?_

He looks over to Connor and sees he's awake, brown eyes looking up at him from where he's slouched over the arm of the couch, although he hasn't moved since he first went into stasis last night to redirect more processing power into the self-repair module.

_What do you mean?_

_Your LED has been yellow since yesterday._

He turns away and drops his gaze to the sleeping dog lying on top of their socked feet. His stress levels haven't dropped level 30% since they reached home and knows they won't continue to lower until both Connor and Bryan have recovered to 100%.

Damian shakes his head and addresses the thought that has been hovering in the back of his mind since the attack. He remembers the anger and the crippling fear, holding onto their bodies and uncertain how to help.

_I don't know what I'm to do if I were to lose either of you._

Connor sits up and turns on the couch a little to face him, pulling Damian's hand onto his lap to grab onto it with both hands.

_Live._

He shakes his head again.

_What if I don't want to._

_The world has a lot to offer. You've only been activated for less than a month, that's not enough to make a fair judgement of what it has to show._

He wants to bring up the fact that all of them were activated on the same day but, as an RK900 model, he has no previous memories to fall back on, nothing in the servers for him to take and use. Not in the way Connor and Bryan do.

He feels his other hand being pulled and he turns to see Bryan has also awoken from his stasis, sending through a feeling of warmth and reassurance into their connection.

_It doesn't help that we work in a position where we see many negative aspects of what humans are capable of but there are many positives as well._

A small collection of memories is played for him - a hug from Hank, a smile from Tina, laughter from Chris at a shared joke, the coo of a baby - little moments of peace and happiness received and given in return.

_If you allow it, they will far outweigh the negatives._

He nods and closes his eyes, gives in a little to their optimism. He remembers Captain Fowler's praises, the casual bump of the shoulder from Officer Chen, the firm pressure on his back from Officer Miller, the roughing up of his hair from Hank. These are good memories he's managed to gather for himself and he hopes it will continue to accumulate.

_I'm excited to see what this world has to offer. I hope we can explore it together with Hank and Sumo._

_Yes._

He feels Bryan poking at his face and he opens his eyes to him, eyebrows raised in question.

'You should smile more often.'

'Oh,' he hadn't realized he'd been smiling. He doesn't think he's ever had reason to smile before, always questioning his presence, always knowing that he was too different and too much like a machine still to truly fit in with humans the way Connor and Bryan have seamlessly fallen into their roles, but he's happy to be here now. He's happy to be given this chance.

His stress levels drop back to normal and he's certain his LED is back to blue.

\---

Damian hears Hank's car pull up outside of the house. A quick glance at his internal clock tells him it's only 14:47, too late to be coming home for lunch and too early for him to be clocking out of work unless it's just to check up on them before going back to the station. The car horn makes short little honks as Hank remains outside and he sits up a little, eyes to the door, silently questioning what's going on. Sumo jumps awake at the noise, barking as his paws skitter across the wood flooring to reach the door.

Connor lets go of his hand to open the door and see if Hank needs anything.

'Hank?'

'Get in the car. Time to go pick up some beds!'

'Shouldn't you still be at the station? It's not even 3 o'clock yet.'

He hears Hank snort, 'Jeff let me shoot off early, now hurry up!'

Damian gets up just as Bryan does and the three of them leave the house, patting Sumo on the way out and promising to take him for another walk again later when they return. He makes sure the house is locked up behind him before taking his customary seat behind Connor.

The mall is relatively busy when they arrive but not so busy that they can't find a carpark nearby one of the entrances. They get a few looks from the humans they walk pass and Damian's not sure if it's because the humans are still uncertain about androids even after the wake of the revolution, or if it's because Hank is surrounded by three androids, or perhaps because they all share almost the same facial features. He tries not to let the stares bother him as he follows after Hank, Connor and Bryan going further into the mall until they reach the second floor towards one of the bigger department stores.

Hank is looking up and around him for signs, muttering about beds under his breath until he sees a floor plan located nearby. Damian scans it and knows he can guide Hank anywhere he wants to go if simply asked.

The section dedicated for beds is decently sized and Hank coaxes them to try sitting or lying on them to check for firmness and comfort even though Connor insists that neither of those things are a necessity for them.

'Yeah, I know,' the human groans, 'But at least put a little effort in.'

Damian lies on one of them and stares up at the bright white lights above him, his feet hanging off the edges. It does feel comfortable, objectively, but he doesn't know if it's entirely needed. They could go into recharge mode just as well on the couch without having Hank to spend potentially hundreds or thousands of dollars on beds. He doesn't say any of this, not with how encouraging Hank's trying to be.

Eventually, Bryan points out something that actually interests him and Damian looks over to see a double bunk bed on display, made of dark wood.

Hank huffs and crosses his arms, half-lopsided smile growing on his face, 'Should've known.'

Damian watches as Bryan gets up onto the wooden ladder leading up to the top bunk and sit down, bouncing a little on the mattress, a wide smile on his face. Connor takes the bottom bunk, playfully pushing Bryan's shoes away from his face as he sits. Damian stands next to them and sees the top of the bunk bed doesn't even reach his shoulders.

'I've done a quick search on bunk beds,' Connor starts as he leans back on his elbows a little, 'There are options for triple bunk beds that can be purchased as well. I'm sure we can find one that will fit in the garage with ease.'

Hank chuckles, 'Alright, one of you can deal with that. Let's have a look at closet space, too, because shopping bags don't make for proper clothes storage,' he says and starts walking off again, although it becomes obvious Hank's not sure where to go when he ends up going the slightly opposite direction compared to the floor plan that Damian has downloaded of the department store.

He takes the lead and looks over his shoulder to make sure the others are following before he continues forward.

Before the hour is up, they've made an order for a large split closet with multiple compartments that's more than large enough for the three of them and a triple bunk bed with two bottom bunks set perpendicular to each other and one top bunk, the structure made entirely of natural dark wood grain, set to be delivered over to 115 Michigan Drive within 3 to 5 business days.

That night, Hank drinks again. It starts off slow at first, the human pouring small amounts into a tumbler as he unwinds from a long day but eventually the glass is forgotten and Hank starts drinking straight from the bottle. Bryan is the one to stand vigil by him this time while Connor sits on the couch next to Damian, LED cycling yellow and looking disquieted.

Damian doesn't understand why Connor and Bryan seem despondent at the sight of Hank partaking in alcohol. He knows humans drink for a variety of reasons and he doesn't see anything particularly worrying of Hank's behavior as long as he keeps to within a decent level, although it seems as though his brothers know otherwise.

He reaches over to take hold of Connor's hand, quietly sending a request, wondering why each of their stress levels is well into the 30s.

_Hank drinks to lower his inhibitions._

_Is that not why most humans drink?_

Connor sends through a memory of finding Hank fallen on the floor, knocked out from excessive alcohol consumption, a revolver lying next to him with one bullet in the chamber.

He feels Connor's hand squeeze his.

_He drinks for liquid courage to help him pull the trigger._

Suddenly, he feels his own stress levels rise as he turns his attention back to Hank, finally seeing with clarity why Connor and Bryan are so careful around the human when he begins to drink. The revolver is nowhere in sight which he is thankful for.

He keeps track of the rising blood alcohol concentration more attentively, slowly tipping the human into a deeper state of dysphoria, his eyes growing bloodshot from exhaustion and held back tears. There is a photo of Cole Anderson in his hand and a nearly empty bottle of whiskey in the other, only a tenth of it remaining.

Damian squeezes Connor's hand in return.

'I miss him a lot,' Hank starts to say, his voice low and slurring as he lets go of the bottle to grab onto the photograph with both hands. 'I miss Cole every fucking day.'

Sumo, who'd laid down on top of Damian and Connor's feet, now slowly ambles his way closer to the human, movements slow and careful as if he can sense the dropping mood. The saint bernard whines softly as he sits by Hank, leaning his weight onto his legs.

'I think he really would've liked to meet you all; he always thought androids were awesome. Probably would've gotten a kick out of having three big brothers,' he lets out a quiet laugh, tears spilling over into his beard as his fingers touch the glass of the photo frame. 

He watches Bryan lay a tentative hand on Hank's shoulder and the man reaching up to grab a hold of it.

'You know what? I'm really fucking glad you guys made it through,' he says as he looks across the room to where Connor and Damian sit, 'I'm glad you're all still here.'

He feels Connor pull him off the couch, feels the squeeze of his hand as they approach the others. He watches Connor as he stands next to Bryan and places a careful hand on Hank's back, rubbing gently as the human quietly cries.

'I'm glad you're still here, too. We all are.'

Damian watches the way Connor and Bryan offer their support to the human, the way they're always open with their touches, willing to give and willing to receive. He has never once openly reached out to anybody that aren't his brothers and he can't help the hesitation he feels as he momentarily curls his fingers into a fist, clenching once before releasing.

Slowly, Damian takes careful hold of Hank's arm and feels the rapid but steady beating of their pulse under his hand.

\---

They return to the station after seven days, each with a form that states they're cleared for active duty again. Captain Fowler checks each of them over before nodding his acceptance, tucking the papers into a drawer.

'We've also emailed you a copy for your records.'

'Good to have you guys back. Now get to work.'

Hank snorts out a laugh and waves them out of the office. 'Alright, you lot vamoose. I need to have a word with Jeff,' he says as he immediately takes one of the available seats and adopts a casual slouch. 'You won't _believe_ what I just spent my weekend doing. You ever seen a triple bunk bed before?'

Damian follows his brothers out, heading straight for the desk where Officer Chen is waiting for them with a smile on her face.

'Hey, good to see you guys again,' she says as he bumps Connor's shoulder with a fist. 'Gave us a damn scare.' 

'It's good to be back. Anything exciting happen while we were gone?'

She lets out a loud bark of a laugh as she dives into a full rundown of her days while they'd all been away. Damian takes his customary seat by Connor's terminal to listen to Officer Chen's exaggerated retelling of a couple who'd tried to rob a convenience store only to end up getting handcuffed to the handle of the fridge by one of the clerks instead.

Officer Chen chats with them for a while longer before returning to her desk, stating she needs to get back to filling out the rest of her reports. Bryan thanks her for the company and says they can continue catching up again later.

She's not gone long before Damian's scans pick up another approaching figure and he feels himself growing tense, apprehensive, as Detective Reed comes up to them with his usual frown.

'I'm only saying this once so listen good,' he snarls, although it seems oddly half-hearted as best. For a moment, Detective Reed's eyes meet his before looking away again. 'That apology from a while ago, I'm taking it.'

'You accept?' Bryan asks, surprise coloring his voice as he turns towards the Detective.

'Yeah, and we never speak of it again, capiche?' He growls as he shoves a threatening finger in their face.

'Yes, thank you.'

'Whatever,' he grumbles and turns away, walking into the breakroom to make a cup of coffee for himself.

Officer Chen grins from where she's sitting as she raises her hands to give them a double thumbs up, doing a motion of silently clapping her hands while moving them in a circular pattern.

He feels a hand reach for his and he looks up to see Connor smiling as he meets Damian's eyes.

_See? Good things can happen, too._

Damian feels Bryan join in the interface.

_Are we sharing workplace gossip?_

_No._

_Boring._

Damian smiles.

'What are you three idiots smiling about,' Hank mutters as he sits down by his terminal, one eyebrow raised in question.

'We're happy.'

'Awh, hell,' he starts to grumble but he looks pleased as well, a lopsided smile growing on his face.

The excited squeal of a baby grabs their attention and Damian turns to the source, sees Officer Miller unbuckle the baby from the stroller and pick them up, holding them up high for a little moment before bringing them back close for a hug.

Damian stands as Officer Miller comes over with his wife, Evelynn, and he notes that she looks relieved to see them, unlike the careful wariness of their first meeting.

'Chris told me what happened last week; I'm so glad you guys are all safe and sound,' she says to them, her fingers fidgeting with her shoulder bag, 'I usually default to baking something but I don't think androids eat anything?'

Bryan smiles, 'It's alright. Your sentiment is more than enough.'

The baby gurgles with a drool-covered fist in his mouth. Damian reaches into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulls out a small baby rattle he'd kept with him all this time for this moment. He shakes it and the sound immediately grabs the baby's attention.

'Wow, hey! Look at what big brother Damian got you,' Officer Miller laughs as he shifts the baby in his arms, bringing the child just a little bit closer.

He shakes the rattle again and smiles as he baby reaches over to grab it with his free hand.

Hank comes up behind them and clears his throat, 'I got a couple boxes of baby stuff I can pass on to you guys if you want it,' he offers.

He keeps his attention to the baby as he listens to the conversation around him, hears Hank say that Damian will bring them over for them next time, volunteering him for the task.

The baby clumsily takes the rattle from him in one hand and starts grabbing for his fingers with the other, closing his entire fist on one digit, squeezing and pulling and gurgling contentedly.

He smiles and learns that his hands are not created solely for violence. He sees that they can be gentle, too, as he carefully rubs a thumb along the baby's wrist, feels the softness of their skin and the fluttering beat of their heart.

Damian, after what he considers to be the worst start of his life, finally finds peace within himself, surrounded by family and friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmmm, I think this whole thing would've worked better as a whole one-shot instead of being split in the middle. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I THINK IT WOULD'VE TAKEN ME AGES TO MANAGE IT. HAHAHAHAHAH 
> 
> IDK how I did it with Augment but I know I sacrificed a heck of a lot of sleep for it and suffered the next day but went ahead and repeated the cycle for nearly a week. XD 
> 
> -hurk-
> 
> Worth it~
> 
> Also, please feel free to check out my other DBH stories if this one tickled your fancy! Thanks a lot for your time!! Cheers!!!

**Author's Note:**

> IDK who made soft RK900 but they are my favorite~ 
> 
> ...That's a lie. They're all my favorites. =___=
> 
> BWHAHAHHAHAHA


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